Shinobi
by clyne-mikiyo
Summary: Lacus was kidnapped by the enemy tribe, when she fell in love with Kira, whose also one of them. Will their love bring peace to both villages who had been enemies for many generations? I do not own GSD, Chapter 18 up!
1. Chapter 1: Ambush!

**Introduction:**

The Iga and Kouga tribes have been enemies for many generations, both sides had lost many of its people in the war.

Shinobi Ranks (lowest to highest): Genin, Chunin, Jounin, Sanin, Hokage/Mizukage

**CHAPTER 1: Ambush!**

Our story starts one early morning with the sun shining high up in the sky, brightening up the entire planet with its spectrums of light.

A girl was standing at the corridor of an inn. She had long pink hair and wore a sky blue dress. Her beauty was irresistible and almost any guy who sees her would be attracted to her looks. She stood there waiting till a boy with purple hair came along, calling her name. "Lacus! It's time for us to head back to the village!" Nodding her head, she followed the man out of the inn into the streets, joining with another 4 boys, wearing the same clothes as the first boy. Upon leaving the village, they walked into a forest by an open path.

**60 minutes later**

They were halfway through the forest when they stopped for a break. The purple haired boy approached Lacus and offered her a bottle of water.

"Lacus, the weather's really warm today. Please have more water", he handed her a bottle of water. "That's nice of you Yunna", smiled Lacus. She gladly accepted the drink. While she was drinking, Yunna placed his hands over her waist. Lacus felt uncomfortable and pushed him aside.

"What's wrong Lacus?" He asked, "After all, we're engaged"

Lacus looked away from him. Her father was the one who made him her fiancée, despite her telling him that she disliked him. Her father found Yunna a great gentleman who would give her the best possible future, not only was he rich but he was also one of the best Chunins in their village.

Suddenly a 5 shinobi came out from nowhere and attacked them. They were wearing black clothing and their faces were covered with a black cloth, revealing only their eyes. The other 4 boys were engaged with each enemy shinobi while remaining took out his katana and fought with Yunna, who immediately drew his shurikens for battle.

With Yunna and the others being distracted, another shinobi came out of the bushes at the rear. He ran at top speed towards Lacus and knocked her out from the back without her noticing. He grabbed her as she fell and carried her into the woods.

"Lacus-sama!" Yunna cried.

The first shinobi then stabbed Yunna in the arm and retreated with the rest of his group by throwing a smoke bomb. As the smoke cleared, Yunna collapsed onto the ground with his arm bleeding.

"Those guys, they must be from the Kouga tribe! Hurry, let's get back to the village and inform Lord Siegel before it's too late!"

"But sir, aren't we suppose to go after them to save Ms Lacus? If we continue back to the village now, she might be dead already!" Exclaimed one of his men

"That's true, but there's no point going after them. Judging by their speed, they must be pretty high ranked Jounins and we're no match for such opponents. We better head back and get some reinforcements!" They then head back to the village as quickly as they could.


	2. Chapter 2: Camp

**CHAPTER 2: Camp**

**At an unknown camp (Noon)**

Lacus awoke from her unconsciousness and looked around the small tent she was in. It was unfamiliar to her and remembered that she had been kidnapped by the shinobi who attacked her earlier. She tried to sit up slowly with her arms and legs tied up with ropes, the blow that the shinobi inflicted upon her back still hurts. She then heard two men talking outside the tent.

"What's with that girl you captured? According to Lenore-sama, we supposed to kill those Iga shinobi"

"What's the hurry? We still have time to get them again anyways"

"But with the ambush on them earlier, they would be more on the lookout now, and this makes the mission even more difficult to handle!"

"Even when that happens, we can come up with another strategy to get them"

Lacus became afraid. She remembered her father telling her that Lenore was the Mizukage of the Kouga tribe. She was a fierce shinobi who kills her enemies without showing any mercy. What's worse, Lacus was the daughter of the Hokage of the Iga tribe. Both tribes had been enemies for many generations and war often broke out whenever the ninjas of both tribes meet. Luckily in her opinion, the Kouga ninjas that kidnapped her must have not known that she was the princess of the Iga tribe, or they would have killed her without delay.

She was broken out of her thoughts when those two men entered the tent. One of them had yellow-orange hair and wore green clothes. He looked very mature and commanding, so Lacus presume that he must be the leader of those shinobi who attacked her earlier. The other one had dark-blue hair and he looked very young, probably only 16 years old. They looked at her for a moment before speaking.

"I'm going out for awhile at the meantime, you're to stand guard here and make sure she doesn't escape Athrun"

The young boy nodded his head.

"Understood, Mwu sensei" ('sensei' means 'teacher' in Japanese)

After Mwu left, Athrun looked at Lacus and gave her the 'don't you dare escape' look. He then exit the tent and sat down at the entrance, guarding. Lacus lie down on the ground and eventually fell asleep.

**At the Iga tribe village**

Yunna reported the incident to Siegel Clyne, regarding his daughter's capture by Kouga shinobi. Siegel was upset and slammed his right hand on his desk. Obviously he was angry that Yunna and his men were not able to give his precious daughter much protection.

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama, I was too weak to do anything to protect your daughter" Yunna apologized "I swear that I'll bring her back safely, along with the heads of those Kouga shinobi who kidnapped her"

"You better make sure you're able to, if you fail me …"

"I shall not fail you sir!"

With a determined look, Yunna left the Hokage's office, planning his next move to rescue Lacus

**At an unknown camp (Evening)**

Lacus woke up from her sleep a few hours later and realized that the sun has set. She sat up and felt very weak, since she had not eaten since morning. Athrun entered the tent and walked towards her with a knife in his hands. Lacus tried to back away from him as Athrun approached her. Athrun then used the knife to cut the ropes which tied her legs; however, he didn't do the same thing with the ropes which tied her hands. Lacus looked at him, wondering why he was doing that.

"Come on outside, we're not going to starve you" Athrun told her and walked out of the tent.

Lacus stood up and exit the tent. The camp was near the base of a waterfall and all the campers seemed to be ninjas in her opinion. She looked around for Athrun and saw him by the fire. She approached him and sat down on the ground near him. He gave her some food, which was cooked over the fire, in a bowl, which she ate all quickly and politely.

"ATHRUN!"

Stunned by the shout he heard, Athrun looked up and saw a girl with pale yellow hair approaching her.

"Oh, what's wrong Cagalli?" Athrun asked

"What's wrong? You're the problem!" Cagalli exclaimed

Athrun looked at her feeling surprised as they both left the area to talk in private.

As Athrun walked away from her, Lacus placed the empty bowl onto the ground and stood up, for a drink at the waterfall. There, she scooped up some water and drank it from her palm.

When she looked up, she noticed a boy sitting a few metres away from her at the side of the waterfall, looking up into the starry sky. He has brown hair, beautiful purple eyes and seems to be of the same age as Athrun.


	3. Chapter 3: The Meeting

**CHAPTER 3: The Meeting**

**With Athrun and Cagalli**

Cagalli and Athrun went behind one of the tents and made sure that no one was looking before being their conversation.

"What's wrong Cagalli? Why are you saying that I'm the problem?" Athrun asked

"That girl, she's the enemy, so why are you treating her so nicely!" Cagalli was fuming.

"Well, we're not sure of her true identity yet, so at the meantime, we cannot treat her too harshly. Why are you asking me this? Are you trying to tell me that you're jealous?" Athrun joked

"Oh shut up! It's not that! By the way, what do you mean by saying that we cannot treat her too harshly?"

"Since those Iga ninjas are heading back to their village from Euphoria (a neutral village), we'll never know if she's a civilian of that town. If we mistreat her and she belongs to that town, the people living there may break off ties with our village or even make us their enemy. The situation will be worst if they join forces with the Iga tribe." Athrun explained seriously.

Cagalli calmed herself down and nodded her head in understanding "I see, so what're we suppose to do with her?"

"Well, that's up to Mwu sensei, since he's the leader here"

Cagalli smiled, closing her eyes "You better learn how to command people, little prince, or when your mum retire, you're going to lead our tribe into a lot of trouble"

Athrun looks away from Cagalli "Maybe you're right, but you know that I'm the worst when it comes to such things"

**At the base of the Waterfall**

Lacus cannot help but keeps on looking at the boy near her. Although she has seen handsome boys approaching her for a date back in her own village, she felt something different about this boy. His presence near her gave her a kind of warmth which until then, she only knew of one man who could give her such a feeling, her father. She had never come across another person of the opposite sex that gave her such warmth.

The boy closed his eyes as the gentle night breeze blew against his face and lay down onto the ground behind him. He seems to be enjoying the night view. He opened his eyes again and noticed the pink-haired girl staring at him. The boy sat up without keeping his eyes off her, wondering why she was looking at him. Lacus blushed and quickly turned her attention to the water. The boy stood up and went towards her.

"May I?" He asked gently, looking down at her.

"Err … Sure" Lacus replied looking into his eyes.

He sat down about 30cm away from her and looked up into the sky again.

"The sky's really beautiful tonight" He said

Lacus looked into the sky and nodded. The sky was indeed beautiful, and one of the most beautiful skies she had ever seen. The boy looked down into the water before he said anything.

"There are some people in this world that will never get a chance to see the sky like this"

Lacus looked at him and saw that he's feeling sad. At that time, he began talking to her.

"If only there aren't any wars like this, where people of all tribes can see the world without the fear of being attacked or harmed, the later generations would not have to witness blood-shed anymore"

Lacus continued looking at his sad face. This was the first time she had ever seen someone who shared the same view as her about the war. People in her village find peace something difficult to accept as long as the Kouga tribe continued to exist. No matter how many times she told her people that war would end the conflict between both tribes, the people would disagree with her ideals. Maybe it's because her father had a strong influence on the people and he hated the Kouga tribe more than anything else in the world. He would always tell her that as long as Kouga tribe remains, there will be no room for peace, so they are something that must be eliminated from the face of the Earth. She was broken out of her thoughts when the boy looked up at her, smiling.

"Why are you treating me so nicely?" She asked without thinking "You don't even know if I'm part of the Iga tribe"

"No matter you're part of the Iga tribe or not, I hated the idea of fighting. Besides, I can tell that you're an innocent person who's not directly involved in the wars."

"What makes you think so?"

"By your looks, you never held a weapon in your life, did you?"

Lacus was stunned by that question. As a princess, her father never allowed her to fight for her village, despite the fact that the rules state women have to learn the ways of a ninja. She simply nodded and looked back into the water.

"Kira!"

A voice from the camp interrupted their conversation. It was Athrun signaling to him.

"Sorry but I've to go, duty calls" Kira said as he stood up.

"I'm Lacus, its nice talking to you Kira" She replied with a smile.

Kira smiled back and went back to the camp, leaving Lacus at the base of the waterfall, staring up into the beautiful starry sky.

_More previews please! Many thanks to those who sent me previews for the past 2 chapters!_


	4. Chapter 4: Natural Disaster!

**CHAPTER 4: Natural Disaster!**

Lacus was awoken the next morning by some voices outside the tent she was asleep in.

"What! You can't be serious!"

"It's true, so we've no choice but to head back to the village now"

She sat up quickly, forgetting about the ropes which tied up her hands. She recalled the incident last night, when she talked to Kira under the beautiful starry sky. She snapped out of her thoughts and walked out of the tent. Upon emerging from the tent, she saw Kira looking relieved. She approached him while Athrun and Mwu were engaged in their conversation.

"Good morning, Lacus!"

"Thanks Kira, what's going on anyways?"

"We received a letter this morning from Mizukage, ordering us to forget about our current mission and return to the village. I don't know what exactly is going on at the moment but Athrun's pretty upset about it, saying that our efforts would all go down the drain if we just let it go now"

"You're not in charge yet so don't make decisions on your own. Mizukage-sama orders are orders and we'll follow them! Since you're a prince, why don't you behave like one at the meantime?"

Athrun got really upset and stormed to the base of the waterfall, feeling upset that his mother cancelled his first mission as a Jounin. Cagalli ran to his side after packing her things.

Lacus sat down beside Kira and noticed that the other ninjas were packing their things. Kira looked at Lacus' arms and went towards Mwu. They talked for sometime before Kira walked back towards Lacus, using his shuriken to cut off the ropes on her arms. Lacus looked him surprisingly.

"That's better, you can move around much easily like this" Kira told her and he sat down.

"But, aren't you worried if I'm a member of the Iga tribe?"

"It's ok; I told Mwu that I'll take full responsibility of watching over you. We're ordered to bring you back to our village"

Lacus felt a shiver down her spine. Although she was famous in her village, the people of the Kouga tribe didn't know that. If they manage to find out that she was a princess, she'll be put to death. However, she doesn't have any other choice but to go with them.

**With Athrun and Cagalli**

"Athrun?" Cagalli called out to him as she approached him from the back.

"It's not fair really!" Athrun said as he took a rock from the ground and crushed it into tiny bits.

"I've heard everything from Kira" Cagalli told him as she sat down beside him "It's ok really, besides after you take over, you can do anything you like"

"Not really" Athrun calmed down a little and threw the small pieces of the leftover rock in his hands into the water "I cannot really do anything I liked"

Cagalli nodded in her head and looked into the water before she continued.

"That girl, are we suppose to bring her back with us?"

"Huh? Oh that pink-haired girl. I think so" He paused for a moment "Are you still wondering if we …"

"SHUT UP!"

Cagalli shouted so loudly that everyone in the camp froze and looked at her. The birds from the nearby trees also flew away.

"Are you nuts!" Athrun stood up, panicking "What if the enemy heard that?"

"I couldn't care more of that now!" Cagalli is on fire "I told you yesterday that there's no such thing like this and you're still …" Cagalli looked as if she's got asthma

"Ok ok ok ok ok!" Athrun apologized immediately, at the same time, feeling afraid of her "I'm sorry!"

Cagalli stormed back to the camp site and Athrun followed her. When they stepped into the camp, everyone had completed packing their things and ready to leave. Mwu saw them and approached Athrun and Cagalli.

"Athrun, Kira has packed your things for you, so we're all ready to leave"

"Understood sir!"

"Your behavior just now was unacceptable Cagalli! The enemy might heard that and were searching for us right now!"

Cagalli lowered her head and apologized. The group then left the camping grounds and head back to their village.

**With the Iga tribe**

Yunna was traveling when his group heard a shout (Cagalli's shout)

"That voice must have belonged to a shinobi of the Kouga tribe!" One of Yunna's men told him.

Yunna thought for a moment and asked the boy.

"How do you that Shinn?"

"In these areas, no one but the ninjas of the Kouga tribe would dare to shout so loudly like this"

"True, you guys go ahead and search for them now! Report back to me if you found anything, especially Lacus-sama!"

"Yes sir! Everyone follow me! Stellar please stay here and protect Yunna" Shinn commanded.

"Stellar want to go with Shinn" Stellar looked at Shinn with her innocent looks.

"Shinn needs to go and save Lacus-sama" Shinn told Stellar "Yunna is hurt, Stellar have to protect him. It's the same as protecting Lacus-sama"

"Shinn …" Stellar looked worried. That was their first mission as Jounins and Stellar do not want to lose Shinn, as they were briefed on their mission that the enemy was powerful.

Shinn walked up to Stellar and embraced her in his arms.

"Shinn will be ok" He said "As long as Stellar believes in Shinn, Shinn will be alright"

Stellar nods her head and watches Shinn and the other ninjas ran into the woods at a fast speed.

Yunna looked at Stellar and wondered if she's strong enough to protect him. The arm that was stabbed by an unknown ninja a few days ago was bandaged and he wasn't able to fight until it has fully recovered.

**Pathway to Kouga village**

Lacus felt tried after traveling for quite a long distance. They were traveling in the forest before climbing up a mountain. Cagalli did not talk to Athrun all day. It's obvious that she was still mad at Athrun for what he said earlier that day. The Kouga shinobi, except Kira, were walking far ahead of her and she wasn't able to catch up. Usually, shinobi who were sent to protect her whenever she travels would stop once every hour for a short break but these Kouga ninjas have been traveling non-stop for three hours already. Kira was watching her from her back. In his opinion, she's not the type that walks fast.

They were traveling on a route near a cliff a few metres above the ground when they saw huge rocks falling off the side of the mountain. Everyone managed to dodge all the rocks. Kira grabbed Lacus and protected her from the tumbling rocks. After all the rocks had fallen, the ground started shaking and it split into two. Lacus lost her balance and fell down the side of the mountain, into the forest far below.

"Lacus!" Kira shouted "Mwu sensei, I'm going after her!"

"Ok, we'll meet you back at the village, be careful!"

Kira then jumped down the mountain side to find Lacus.

_Many thanks to those who wrote previews for me! I'll try my best to make the next few episodes as long as I can so please bear with me. More previews are welcomed! _


	5. Chapter 5: Emotions

**CHAPTER 5: Emotions**

Kira ran through the forest at high speed, looking for signs of Lacus as he jumped from tree to tree. He was hoped that he will be able to find her before something bad happened to her.

At the meantime, Lacus awoke and found herself in a small hunt. She was tied up to the bark of a tree. She looked around and realized that there was no one in sight.

"Kira?"

She wondered what had happened and all she remembered was falling off the mountain side.

"Kira!" She shouted louder.

"Hey you there, shut up!"

The voice came from the back of some trees. She saw some men wearing torn clothes sitting around a fire.

"If you continue talking, we'll kill you immediately!" The same man told her.

"Wait, don't kill her just yet" replied another man "After all, she's a rare babe"

The other men looked her smiling. Lacus felt her body shivering, hoping that those men are not thinking of doing anything bad to her. One of the men went up to her and touched her face with his hands.

"Wow, such smooth skin!"

Lacus tried to break herself free from the ropes that tied her to the tree.

"Stop it, you pervert!"

"Wow, she also has a nice voice"

The other men laughed loudly. She closed her eyes as tears flowed down her cheeks when that man continued touching her. Suddenly, that feeling was gone. The man was no longer touching her. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that man was pinned to another tree with a shuriken.

"What the!" The other men said as they stood up from the ground.

Lacus saw the shadow of a person who jumped down from the top of the tree she was tied to, landing right in front of her. She recognized his back.

"Kira!"

"You alright?" Kira asked without turning around to look at her.

"I'm ok"

"Just hang in there for a few more seconds; I'll get you out after I settle these guys"

Lacus was pleased to see him. However those men were not at all happy. They immediately took out their weapons.

"You little nobody! Don't think just because you used shurikens we were afraid of you!"

Kira smiled "Nobody? I think its better that you know who you are talking to before you start talking big"

The men were beginning to feel afraid of the boy. He sounds as if he's very powerful. Despite their fear, they tried their best to look normal and charged directly at him. Kira took out a shuriken from his pocket and knocked the men off their feet at an amazing speed. Lacus was amazed and wonder why he did not kill them immediately. She then recalled the time that she spent with Kira at the waterfall. Kira said that he did not like to kill. The men panicked to get back to their feet to run away as Kira remained crouching in the position when he last swung his shuriken.

"Who … who are you!" One of them asked him in fear.

Kira slowly stood up and turned to face him.

"Kira, Kira Yamato of the Kouga Tribe"

The men's fear grew when they found out that he was part of the Kouga tribe. They quickly stood up and ran for their lives. Kira threw one of his shurikens onto the tree which Lacus was tied to, cutting lose the rope. Lacus wanted to walk to him, however, her legs gave way and she fell into the ground. Kira went forward to catch her before she reached the ground; he then gently placed her onto the ground. Lacus rubbed her ankle of her right leg, which looked swollen. Kira took out a cloth from his backpack and damped it with some water from his water bottle. He placed the cloth onto her ankle and rubbed it as gently as he could. After that he placed some medicine onto it.

"This should be effective" Kira told her after he applied the medicine "Can you walk?"

Lacus tried to stand up but the pain was unbearable. She fell back into the ground again, sweating profusely.

"Let me carry you then" Kira asked.

Lacus looked at him and blushed.

"But … …"

"We can't stay here all day"

Lacus climbed onto his back and he walked into the woods. Lacus was utterly embarrassed. She had never been carried by a stranger before in her life.

**With Athrun and Cagalli**

Cagalli was falling back as the group makes their way down the other side of the mountain. Athrun slowed down and saw that she was deep in thoughts.

"What's wrong Cagalli?"

Cagalli looked up "Oh nothing, I was just wondering …"

"About?"

"Well, this is the first time I saw my brother so anxious over a girl"

Athrun recalled the moment when Kira told Mwu that he's going after Lacus.

"Quite true, he's never so protective over a girl before, except you"

"I wonder if he's in love"

Athrun looked at Cagalli blankly.

"How could that be!"

"I don't know, it's just a hunch"

Athrun looked into the blue sky.

"If he is really in love, then we could …" Athrun looked down into Cagalli's eyes.

Cagalli looked and him and felt a little uncomfortable.

"What are you thinking this time, you idiot!"

Athrun looked away "Nothing, nothing"

Cagalli went closer to him and saw that he's blushing. However, she ignored that and ran to catch up with the group. Athrun looked at her as she ran and wondered if he will ever get another chance to tell Cagalli about his feelings for her.

**With Kira and Lacus**

The sun was setting when Lacus noticed that Kira was sweating.

"Do you need to stop for a break?" She asked.

"No, I'm alright"

"But you seem really exhausted"

"That's ok; I could just take this as training"

"Do ninjas like you train like this?"

"Well, as ninjas, we need to be fit. Carrying heavy loads and walking long distances non-stop are some training that we do"

"That's a rough life"

"It's ok really, after you get used to it"

Lacus remained silent, deep in her thoughts, when Kira lowered her onto the ground in a cave, which was in front of a huge lake with a big mangrove tree growing in the middle.

"We'll stay here for the night" Kira unpacked his backpack and looked at Lacus "How's your leg?"

"It's much better now, thanks"

"That's good, you stay here, and I'll go get some food and firewood"

Kira smiled and left the cave. Lacus looked around the lake, it was beautiful and she was sure that the night view would be great. However, the beauty was disrupted by some of her thoughts. She is the princess of the Iga tribe and sooner or later, Kira would have the right to know. But she was afraid, afraid of what he might do after he found out about it. She was so deeply in thoughts till night has fallen. Kira came back and set up a fire and cooked some food over the fire and boiled water.

When the food was ready for consumption, he realized that she was no longer in his sight. He looked around and heard a voice.

_The night time fills the sky_

_Stars alive, go floating by_

_So still the evening air, so warm and soft_

_Peace everywhere. I see a world in harmony_

_A world of peace and humanity_

_With people walk free like water in a stream _

_Flowing on, forever more_

The voice was very lovely, but sounded very sad. Kira stood up and walked out of the cave. He saw Lacus standing in the lake, with the water level at her waist. She was standing as close as possible to the big mangrove tree and looking up into the night sky. Kira slowly walked into the water as quietly as he could as he did not want to alarm her.

_The breezes softly blow crisp and warm_

_So sweet I know_

_Upon my cheek I can feel tenderly a kiss so real _

_Like the brush of a hand that I cannot see_

_The sound of a voice deep inside of my heart_

_So I dream of a new day coming_

_For all the world to see_

_Lift your eyes and see a new day dawning_

_A dream that will soon come true_

_The day we've waited for_

_Lift your heart and see the future for us all_

The singing stopped as Lacus saw Kira looking at her. He seemed amazed by her lovely voice.

"Kira, there's something that I feel that you must know"

Lacus looked down into the water. Kira went closer to her until she was right in front of him.

"Tell me" He said gently. Lacus paused for a moment before she continued.

"About my true identity … … My real name is Lacus Clyne, I'm the daughter of Siegel Clyne"

Kira looked at her stunned. At that very moment, he realized that all along, he had been protecting the princess of the enemy tribe. Lacus looked up at him.

"I'm sorry that I've kept it a secret all this time but I was afraid that you guys will kill me if you found out"

"It's alright" Kira calmed himself down "No matter if you're a princess of the enemy of not, I'll still protect you"

Lacus was touched by his words. She thought of the consequences that Kira might face if his village people found out that he continuously protected her, even after knowing that she's the princess of the enemy. Tears started flowing down her cheeks as she looked down and cried, repeating the words softly 'I'm so sorry Kira'.

Kira looked at her crying. He took his hands out of the water and placed them onto her shoulders.

"Lacus" He called her. Lacus looked up into his eyes, crying. He was looking into hers as well.

It happened that very moment. Kira moved closer towards her and closed his eyes when his lips came into contact with hers. He embraced her in his arms as he kissed her. Lacus' eyes widened as he kissed her but she slowly began to enjoy that sensation and closed her eyes as well to return him a kiss. They lay into the water and continued kissing each other. After sometime, they stopped and looked at each other, smiling. Lacus touched his face gently with her right hand, while Kira touched hers with his right hand as well. They continued smiling and kissed each other once again.

(If you really cannot picture this, recall the scene when Tidus and Yuna kissed each other for the first time at Lake Macalania in Final Fantasy X)

After spending some time in the lake, Kira and Lacus resurfaced and sat at the banks of the lake having their dinner under the night sky, before they returned to the cave for the night.

**_Like someone suggested, I've tried my best to make each chapter as long as possible. The next chapter may take a very long time as my parents are beginning to 'lock' me away from the computer to study for the upcoming GCE 'O' Levels. But nevertheless, I'll try and get the next chapter up. For AxC fans and SxS fans, more scenes of the two couples are coming up! _**

**_Once again, thanks to those who wrote reviews about this story. All reviews will be taken into consideration. _**


	6. Chapter 6: Separation

**CHAPTER 6: Separation**

Our story continues on the next morning … …

**With Athrun and Cagalli**

The group of Kouga just reached the entrance of their village.

"All right everyone! Take a break today, so you all do not have to report to the Jounin Headquarters at noon. Have a good rest and report tomorrow instead" Mwu announced and approached Athrun and Cagalli.

"Athrun! So, any news on Kira?"

"Nope, not a word"

"I'm worried" Cagalli looked onto the ground.

"Don't worry Cagalli; Kira's stronger than he looks"

Mwu smiled at her and walked into the village with the others. Cagalli stood rooted to the ground, thinking about her brother. In the end, she snapped out of her thoughts and walked into the village. Athrun watched her as she goes.

"Cagalli!"

"What is it Athrun?"

"I … er … I …."

"You what?"

"I … I … was just wondering if you're free tonight"

Cagalli turned around and saw that he's blushing. She thought for a moment before replying.

"Yeah, I'm free, why do you ask?"

"I would … … er like to have dinner with you tonight"

She stared at Athrun frowning. Athrun started to feel afraid, judging by her looks.

"Ok then"

She replied and walked away. Athrun felt relieved and shouted to her.

"So I'll meet you at the Ramen shop!"

Cagalli waved her left hand, signaling that she heard him as she continued heading for home. Athrun smiled at himself, in his head, reflecting the words "Mission accomplished!"

**With Kira and Lacus**

Kira woke up and looked out of the cave. The sun was shining very brightly and the water in the lake was crystal clear. Lacus was fast asleep beside him, with her head leaning on his shoulder. He kissed her on the head and slowly stood up, trying his best not to wake her up. He walked out of the cave with his weapon pack, preparing to go and hunt some breakfast when a boy jumped down from behind some trees above the cave and ran towards him from the back with his katana. Kira managed to dodge the attack and drew out two of his kunai.

"I'm here to save Lacus, so hand her over!"

Kira looked at him and then into the cave. The boy saw Lacus in the cave and ran towards it. Kira jumped in front of the cave immediately, feeling unsure if the boy would hurt her. The boy jumped backwards and threw his shurikens. Kira knocked them off with his two kunai and blocked the boy's katana attack. They both engaged into a fight at an amazingly fast speed.

The noise of the fighting awoke Lacus from her sleep. She went out of the cave and saw the two boys fighting each other. Panicking, she ran towards them.

"Kira! Shinn! Stop it!"

Both boys stopped their attacks and looked at her. Lacus ran over to Kira's side.

"Lacus, are you alright!" Shinn asked.

"I'm fine, but please don't attack Kira"

"But why? His tribe attacked and kidnapped you! How could you even afford to side with the enemy?"

"Kira's not the enemy! He has protected me all this time!"

Shinn started to feel confused. As the princess, there is no way Lacus would side with someone from the Kouga tribe.

"Lacus, it's alright" Kira smiled at her.

"Kira …"

"It's also about time you go back to your village"

Lacus looked at Kira, feeling worried.

"Since you're the princess of the Iga tribe, I cannot bring you back to my village, or you'll be executed for sure. And I don't want that to happen"

"But Kira, if I were to go back, what will happen when you go back to your village?"

"I could make up a lie" Kira answered after some thoughts.

Shinn was really lost. The both of them were talking as if they're very close to each other.

"But then … you'll get punished, won't you?"

"As I've said, it's alright. Even if I do get a punishment, it's better than bring you back to my village to be executed. Since he's from your village, he could take you back safely"

"But …"

Lacus looked down, feeling very sad. Shinn looked at her and went forward.

"Sure, don't worry Lacus, I won't tell anyone back in our village about this. I promise"

Shinn hated to see Lacus feeling sad and would do anything he can to cheer her up. Since they both, as well as Stellar, grew up together and were the closest of friends.

"Alright then" Lacus finally agreed "But … will I ever get to see you again, Kira"

"I'm sure we will" He smiled at her.

They embraced each other one last time before Lacus allowed Shinn to take her back to their village. Kira watched them go and went back to the cave to pack his things before heading back to his village.

**With Yunna and Stellar**

Yunna sat on a huge rock beside a river, watching Stellar as she walked up and down, without keeping her eyes off the thick forest.

_She doesn't look like a shinobi to me … someone like her reminds me of a daydreamer _

Yunna thought as he continued staring at her.

_It's been three days now. I wonder how are those boys doing, and whether if Lacus is safe and sound._

Stellar walked towards the forest and looked up into the sky. She closed her eyes as the wind blows gently onto her face and walked back to Yunna.

"Shinn and the others are returning, Stellar knows"

Yunna was about to reply when the group of ninjas that went after Lacus came back with her.

"Lacus! I'm so glad that you're alright. Are you hurt anywhere?" Yunna asked her as if they're already married.

Lacus looked irritated before she replied "I'm fine"

Yunna went up to the boys.

"So how did you guys managed to save her anyways?"

"We broke up later to spread out our search, sir and Shinn's only the one who did the job, we did not do anything" One of the boys replied. Yunna then looked at Shinn.

"Excellent job, Shinn! And did you kill those despicable Kouga ninjas"

"I sure did! They're all talk" Shinn tried to act tough as he lied.

"Good! We shall hold a party as soon as we get back"

After that, the group headed back to their village.

**At the Kouga village**

Athrun was nervously searching through his cupboard for something to wear. In his opinion, he must look good in front of the girl of his dreams as he finally got to date her. In the end, he decided to ask his mother for advice, so he changed into a new set of ninja clothes and left his house. He was approaching his mother's office when he heard his mother talking to someone in her office.

"This is totally unacceptable! Letting your guard down on your first Jounin mission!"

"I'm sorry, I'll take any punishment"

Athrun peeked through a slight opening at the door of his mother's office and saw Kira talking to her. He pushed open the door and went in.

"Mum, what's wrong? Why must Kira take a punishment after he had just returned?"

"Athrun, this good friend of yours allow a prisoner to escape and why should I let him go? This isn't his first mission as a shinobi and he knows all the rules of the village"

"But, Kira, he's …"

"It's alright Athrun" Kira interrupted him. "I'll take full responsibility"

"Kira!"

"That's enough from you, Athrun. Kira, you're to clean the village's training hall for two weeks"

"Understood" Kira bowed and left the office.

Athrun waited for his friend to move further away from the office before talking to his mother.

"Mum!"

"That punishment is considered light enough!"

Athrun thought for a moment before answering.

"Alright, I'm sorry for my behavior just now"

**Pathway to Iga village **

Lacus was walking behind the group with Shinn as they make their way back to their village.

"Thanks for everything Shinn"

Shinn stared at her.

"Whatever for?"

"You lied to Yunna about what actually happened"

"Oh that … It's fine really. I know you really hate him after all"

Stellar joined in their conversation.

"Shinn lied to Yunna? That's so not like Shinn"

"Stellar, I'm doing it as I've no other choice. If I've said the truth, Lacus would be angry at me"

"Why could Lacus feel that way? Stellar don't understand"

"Don't worry Stellar, I'll explain everything to you after we get back to the village"

Lacus smiled at them when Yunna went up to Lacus. Shinn and Stellar went up to catch up with the others as they're not allowed to listen to their conversation, as ordered by Yunna. Yunna placed his hand over her shoulders.

"So, my dear Lacus, let's have dinner together tonight"

"No thank you, Yunna" Lacus tried to speak as politely to him as possible "I've got work to do"

"Can't you leave those work for now? You must have been so tired after what happened and you need to rest"

"Thanks, but I've got to complete them as soon as possible"

Yunna paused for a moment.

"Well, if you insist, I won't force you then. Then I shall meet you for breakfast tomorrow morning"

"_Can't he leave me alone for perhaps at least a week?" _Lacus thought to herself.

"Erm … sure" She agreed, feeling really annoyed.

**At the Kouga village**

Kira was crumbing the floor at the village's training hall when Cagalli came running towards him.

"Kira! I can't believe Lenore-sama actually made you do something like this"

Cagalli seems very mad.

"It's alright. I'm at fault anyways"

Athrun was passing by and overheard their conversation.

"Athrun!" Cagalli shouted at him as she saw him approaching.

"Couldn't you persuade your mum or something, rather than letting Kira do such a housewife job!"

"I'm sorry Cagalli, I've tried asking her to give him a lighter punishment, but … I got a earful from her instead"

Athrun looked disappointed and Cagalli tried her best to calm herself now. Athrun thought for a moment, before he became serious.

"Kira, you let her go on purpose, didn't you?"

Kira looked at him, while Cagalli was shocked.

"Don't be crazy Athrun! Kira's not that sort of person!"

"I don't want to believe it too, Cagalli, but if it's true …"

"Stop quarreling!" Kira interrupted them "Athrun's right"

Athrun and Cagalli stared at him, feeling that Kira's changed. He never did anything like this in the past.

"But why?" Athrun asked him. "You knew that we're to bring that pink-haired girl back here. So why did you let her go?"

"It's because I don't want her to come here and die"

"What do you mean?" Cagalli asked.

Kira paused and took a deep breath. "She's the princess of the Iga tribe. If I were to bring her here, nothing but death awaits her"

Athrun and Cagalli looked at him with their mouths wide open.

"She's … she's a princess?" Cagalli wanted to confirm that she didn't hear wrongly.

"Kira, you let her go just because she's a princess?" Athrun asked.

Kira got mad and stood up.

"If you guys think that I've made a wrong decision, then I …"

He paused and looked onto the ground. Before Athrun and Cagalli could say anything, Kira ran out of the training hall.

"What was that suppose to be about?" Cagalli asked Athrun after Kira ran off.

"I think it's more than duty that Kira decided to let her go"

"Huh? I don't get what you're trying to say"

"It's kind of obvious, isn't it? I guess that Kira got some feelings towards that girl"

Cagalli stared at him and walked off, feeling weird for what Athrun said. Athrun looked at her as she walked away and turned his attention to his watch, realizing that it's about time that he meet Cagalli at the restaurant and panicked back home to ransack his cupboard for suitable clothes once again.

**_Sorry for keeping all readers waiting ... finally here's the editted version of chapter 6 after taking consideration of all reviews. What's more, I've got some bad news, this is the final chapter that I can ever upload until my 'O' Levels ends, which is around mid November. So the upcoming chapters got to wait. Since I cannot post till much later, I'll reveal some info about what's going to happen in the next few chapters, provided that I don't change my mind on what's going to happen next._**

**_Kira and Lacus continued to remain in contact with each other, with the assistance of Athrun, Cagalli, Shinn and Stellar. However, little do they know that war is raging soon ... ... _**

**_Reviews are welcome! Feel free to write reviews so I can make this story as interesting as possible for all readers! )_**


	7. Chapter 7: Confession

**CHAPTER 7: Confession **

**At the Kouga village**

Athrun has booked a table and sitting nervously, waiting for Cagalli to arrive. He actually decided not to wear anything special in the end; hence he wore his normal home clothes. He was staring onto the table, wondering what to say to Cagalli when she entered the shop, wearing nothing special either but her shinobi clothes.

"Sorry for being late" Cagalli apologized as she sits down across the table, opposite him "There's a lot of problems at the Shinobi School and I have to help out since no one else is willing to do so"

"That's fine, Cagalli" Athrun said as he passed her the menu

As Cagalli was looking through the menu, Athrun was nervous and tried to think what he should tell her later. Cagalli placed her order before realizing about Athrun.

"So, what's so special about today that you have to meet me for dinner?"

"Well, er … you see … I …" Athrun was stumbling over his words.

Cagalli looked at him, frowning and at the same time, wondering why he has been acting so strange lately.

"Well, if you're not ready to say it, then we'll leave it to some other time"

"Er … sure" Athrun felt half relieved and half disappointed.

"About Kira, he's a totally different person now, ever since he went off to find that girl" Cagalli told Athrun as she rested her head on her right palm.

"Yes I agree. He seems really serious about her"

"I've never seen my brother like this before, Athrun"

"It's ok Cagalli; I guess he would fall for a girl sooner or later"

"Why do you think so?"

"Many girls had chased him since we started studying the ways of a ninja and he had not agreed to a single girl for a date yet. I guessed that he would somehow fall for one of them sooner or later."

"But he didn't! And to make things worse, she's our enemy!"

"If he really loves her, I guess that doesn't matter"

"Why don't we go and ask him later, Athrun?"

"Haha, hopefully we won't get a punch from him when we do"

As Athrun and Cagalli had their meal, Kira was at home, sitting at his balcony staring into the night sky as his pet bird, Tori flew around his house and landed on his right shoulder. He held up his left hand and Tori hopped onto the top of his hand. He looked at Tori and thought of an idea. He stood up and went to his desk, took out a piece of parchment and writes a message. He then tied the message to Tori's left leg and Tori hopped back onto his hand, looking at him.

"Tori, I'm depending on you now"

He walked over to the balcony and looked as Tori flew out into the night sky.

**At the Iga village**

Lacus was sitting at her dressing table in her room after dinner, looking into her reflection in the mirror.

_Kira … I wonder how are you doing back in your village …_

She was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Lacus? Are you there? I was just wondering if Stellar and I may talk to you"

"I'm fine, please come in"

Shinn and Stellar entered her room and took a seat on her sofa.

"Stellar heard everything from Shinn about Lacus" Stellar told Lacus "Stellar swears to keep it a secret too"

"Thanks a lot, Stellar" Lacus smiled.

"So I think it's about time you tell us what actually happened between you both during your capture"

Lacus looked at Shinn, stunned. Stellar gave Shinn a sight hit on his lap with her left hand.

"Shinn cannot force Lacus to say if Lacus don't want to. Or else Stellar will consider that as bullying"

Lacus broke out into a small laugh while Shinn gave Stellar a kind of look as if he was going to say "Come on Stellar …" But in the end, he said something else.

"If Lacus doesn't want to say it, I won't force her either"

When Lacus wanted to reply to them, a tiny green bird flew into her room and landed onto her dressing table. Lacus walked over to the dressing table and noticed that there was a letter, written on its leg. She untied the letter and opened it up. She was partially surprised, after realizing that the letter was from Kira.

_Hi there, Lacus._

_I guess that you may already know who I really am after reading this but just in case it falls into the wrong hands, I won't reveal my name. This delivery bird is my pet, Tori, and I just wanted to make sure that you're well and alright. _

_Just in case you're wondering, I'm fine. The punishment I received is pretty light, so don't you worry, all I've got to do was to clean the training hall for two weeks. _

_See you!_

_From, someone you know _

Lacus smiled as she read the letter, while Shinn and Stellar tried to peek at the content of the letter.

"Er … Shinn, Stellar … would you please excuse me for a moment?"

Shinn and Stellar looked at each other and agreed. After they left the room, Lacus took out a new parchment from her study table and began to write another letter to Kira as Tori flew around the room.

_Dear Kira, _

_I've received your letter. I'm really glad that you're ok and the punishment is not too bad, but isn't cleaning the training hall for two weeks really tough? Everything's fine in this village so don't you worry about me as well. _

_Miss you!_

_Songstress_

Lacus tied the paper onto Tori's right leg and it took off into the night sky once again. At the meantime, Shinn and Stellar were sitting at the living room of Lacus' house.

"That must be from that boy she loves, right Shinn?"

"I guess so, since she's not willing to let us read it"

Stellar broke out into a small laugh when Lacus opened the door.

"Sorry about just now, so shall we continue from where we left off?"

"Er …" Shinn do not know what to say when Stellar interrupted him.

"Stellar just remembered something, Shinn and Stellar got to go. Sorry Lacus"

"Oh, if you're busy, I won't hold you guys up"

"Er … ya"

"Lacus must be tired, so Lacus do not have to send Shinn and Stellar out"

Stellar pushed Shinn out of the house and made their way out to the streets.

"What's that all about Stellar?"

"Shinn don't know? Shinn is bad when it comes to girls"

"Really?"

"But Stellar still likes Shinn"

Stellar smiles at him and they hold hands, making their way home together.

**The next morning at the Iga village**

Lacus was at the washroom cleaning herself up when a ninja came knocking onto her room door.

"Sorry to disturb, Ms Lacus, but Yunna's here and he said that he's here to bring you out for breakfast"

"_Oh no" _Lacus thought.

"Please tell him that I'll be there in a few minutes"

Lacus changed her clothes before heading to her living room to see Yunna sitting on the sofa. His arm was still wrapped up with bandages. He brought her to a nearby shop and ordered some food. Lacus kept quiet most of the time, thinking about Kira, when Yunna suddenly touched her hand and she removed her hand from his. Yunna looked at her and thinks that it's best if he changes the topic.

"I heard that the food here is really good and it's worth a try, since it just started business recently"

Lacus nodded her head and looked up to the bright morning sky. "Why do _I get the feeling that today's going to be a bad day?" _

Shinn and Stellar were passing by the shop and saw Yunna and Lacus having breakfast together, without catching their attention.

"Stellar can tell that Lacus hates Yunna" Stellar told Shinn with a frown on her face.

"Ya and that idiot sitting opposite her don't even realize it himself. Come to think of it, when I first heard that Yunna was qualified as a Chunin during dinner time, I also threw my food up"

Stellar nods with agreement. "Stellar doesn't like Yunna also. Only a dumb girl would fall for him"

Shinn looked at her, surprised. That was the first time he heard Stellar talked like this.

"Let's go Stellar" Shinn told her "We're about to be late for duty"

**At the Kouga village**

Athrun was going after Kira, who was walking at a really fast speed.

"Kira, I'm sorry for being a busybody but I feel that you should at least tell me what's going on between you and that pink-haired princess"

Kira stopped in his tracks before Athrun continued.

"Just tell me would you? I won't tell anyone as your best friend"

"Alright, alright!" Kira walked into the open field near the training hall and sat on a bench beneath a tree. "There's nothing to say about us anyways!"

"That means you like her?" Athrun asked.

"So what if I am?"

"This is not a really good idea you know, since she's suppose to be an enemy"

"I know that … but I can't stop feeling that … somehow … I need to have her by my side … I feel as if I cannot go on without her"

Athrun nodded his head with understanding.

"I just knew that some day you would fall in love, since many girls from our village chased you and you rejected them"

Kira laughed at him. "That may be true, but you're already in love since our school days aren't you? With some one whom I'm close to"

Athrun looked away, blushing. "I'm not!"

Kira smiled at his best friend and looked up into the sky.

"Relax Athrun. I knew all along that you liked my sister. It's just that she doesn't know about it"

Athrun turned back to look at Kira, feeling that it's time to change the subject.

"So how are you two keeping in touch? That pink-haired princess"

"Her name's Lacus and I guess for now we could just talk by letter. Tori's doing all the work for me"

"How long do you plan to keep your relationship with her a secret? Sooner or later, someone from either village is going to find out"

"Ya, I guess we're going to keep it a secret till that day comes"

**At the Iga village**

Lacus returned home from breakfast and when she entered her house, one of the maids went up to her.

"Lacus-sama, your friends, Shinn and Stellar are waiting for you upstairs"

"Thank you"

Lacus made her way up to her room and saw Shinn and Stellar reading some sort of parchment on her dressing table. She panicked and snatched the parchments out of their hands, returning them back to the drawer of her dressing table.

"I guess it's about time you tell us about him" Shinn said slyly.

"You guys read everything?" Lacus was in shock.

"Stellar and Shinn read the message" Stellar replied in a sorry voice "But as Lacus' best friends, Shinn and Stellar wants to know about Lacus' boyfriend"

"And we could also tell since the beginning that you hated Yunna" Shinn smiled.

Lacus calmed down and feels that it's about time to tell them the truth.

"Ok" She took a deep breath and continued the story, explaining everything to them, about how she first saw Kira, when Kira protected her from some thieves and when Kira first kissed her.

When she concluded the story, Shinn and Stellar were staring at her dumbfounded.

"That's … … really romantic" Shinn broke the silence.

"Stellar feels that way too"

"I know that I shouldn't have done something like that as a princess, but somehow, I feel warmth whenever I'm with him"

Shinn and Stellar smiled at Lacus.

"It's alright Lacus, as long as you're happy being with him, we won't object"

Stellar nodded "Stellar can tell Lacus likes Kira a lot. Shinn and Stellar will be happy when Lacus is happy"

"So when are you guys going to meet again?" Shinn asked.

Lacus looked him, as if she wasn't expecting such a question.

"Well … I haven't thought of it yet …"

"Stellar is sure that Lacus missed Kira and cannot last long without Kira by Lacus' side. The same thing goes when Stellar is separated with Shinn" Stellar smiled.

Shinn blushed "Stop it, Stellar. You're making me feel embarrassed!"

"But Stellar is speaking the truth! Shinn and Stellar can arrange for Lacus to meet Kira if Lacus wants to"

Lacus felt pleased when she heard that.

"You mean it?"

"Yes, Shinn and Stellar can watch Lacus' back when Lacus spends some time with Kira"

Shinn looked at her, feeling that there's nothing he could say that would change Stellar's mind.

"Sure, of course!"

"Thanks a lot you guys!" Lacus felt that her spirit has lightened when she knew that she would meet Kira once again soon.

**_Sorry for taking such a long time. My exams are finally over and I took a few days to get the next part of the story out of my mind. The reviews are great, thanks to all those who gave me comments, I really appreciate them. Anyways, I hope that you readers won't get put off by my bad use of English, since my English standard is not so good. Hopefully everyone can understand what I'm trying to say in the story ..._**


	8. Chapter 8: The Banquet

**CHAPTER 8: The Banquet**

The next few days passed and Kira finally completed his punishment of cleaning up the training hall. He reported to the Mizukage for a second apology before heading home and the sun was already setting.

Upon reaching home, he found Tori hopping around on his desk, with a new message on its leg. Feeling happy that Lacus has replied to his previous letter, he quickly untied the letter and offered a bowl of bird food for him. As Tori is eating gratefully, Kira was pleased with what was written on the letter.

The next morning, before sunrise, Kira went to Athrun's house and knocked on his room window. Athrun saw him and got up sleepily to open his room window.

"Athrun, good news"

"Good news? Is it really that urgent that you can't wait to tell me?" Athrun yawned and rubbed his eyes that are half closed.

"Quite … I'm meeting Lacus in 3 days from now, so I need you and Cagalli to help me out during my absence"

"Oh that … I thought it was something more urgent than that. Alright, I'll talk to Cagalli about it first thing in the morning" Athrun yawned and went back to bed.

"Thanks Athrun" Kira smiled and went out of the room through the window.

**At the Iga Village**

It was late morning and Lacus was combing her hair when her father entered the room.

"Good Morning, Father!"

"You seemed really happy this morning dear, did something good happen?"

"Well, you can say that, what's wrong?"

"I have arranged that you and Yunna are to marry in 3 days from now, all the villagers are really happy for you and I suggest that you start your preparations today"

Lacus dropped her comb as the information wiped the smile off her face.

"What?! But father!"

"It's alright dear, Yunna is a fine gentleman and will guarantee you a good life ahead"

Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hokage-sama, it's time for your meeting with sir Yunna's family"

"Ok, help Lacus in her preparations"

"Yes-sir!"

Lacus was devastated. She never believed that her most beloved father would ever do such a thing to her.

At the meantime, Shinn and Stellar heard about the wedding and were pondering over what to do.

"Lacus hates Yunna! How could Hokage-sama let him marry her?"

"Calm down, Stellar! Getting upset won't get us anywhere. Let's think of a plan to help Lacus"

"Stellar was wondering if Shinn and Stellar should tell Kira about this"

Shinn paused before continuing. "Well … that doesn't seem to be a bad idea but what I'm worried about what Kira would plan to do"

Shinn and Stellar went to Lacus' house after completing their work.

"Lacus seemed really disappointed" Stellar broke the silence.

"Well, I'm not really …"

"You don't have to hide it Lacus, after all, it's not that you liked Yunna"

"Shinn …"

"Come on, your looks gave it away already. The one that you truly love is Kira and not Yunna"

Lacus simply smiled at her friends.

Shinn continued. "Couldn't you tell your father that you don't love Yunna? It's not really right for him to force you to marry someone that you don't have feelings for"

"He's busy all day and I don't wish to bother him with things like that. Besides, if I tell him that I refuse to marry Yunna, there's a high possibility that he'll get mad at me"

"But this concerns your future! Your future will be ruined if you really marry him"

"It's too late Shinn, all wedding preparations are done and my father has already met up with Yunna's family"

"Stellar says that Lacus should tell Kira about this"

"I guess … I guess … that we should not tell him"

Shinn and Stellar stared at Lacus in shock. Lacus can tell what they are thinking.

"If we tell him, he might be rash and do things that offend my father. And if my father realizes that he is a Kouga shinobi, he may declare war with the Kouga tribe and if that happens …" Lacus held both of her hands together tightly. "There would unnecessary bloodshed"

**2 days later at the Kouga Village**

Kira woke up early in the morning and was feeling really excited that he's going to meet Lacus that night. Little does he know about Lacus' wedding … He was passing by the shinobi training school and recalled the past.

It was late afternoon and 3 children, aged 8 years old are playing in the field.

"Watch out!" One of them shouted as the ball he kicked hit another child at the back of the head.

"WWWWAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH" The girl who got hit started crying as she placed her hand on her head.

"What did you do that for Athrun?! It hurts!" The younger version of Cagalli shouted.

"Sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen"

The younger version of Kira ran over to Cagalli's side and placed his hand onto her head. "It's alright, nothing serious"

"Kira!" A voice snapped Kira out of his thoughts and he turned back to find Athrun running towards him.

"Morning Athrun!"

"Kira, bad news"

"Huh? What is it, Athrun?"

"I just found out … … Lacus … She's …"

"Relax Athrun, you seem to be out of breath. Take a rest and slowly tell me what's wrong"

"I'm fine" Athrun wiped off the sweat on his forehead and continued. "Lacus' getting married!"

"What?! Married?!"

"Yes, I heard it. The entire Iga village is now excited about the news and it's taking place tomorrow morning"

Kira stood in silence and ran off on his own after awhile.

"Kira! Kira! Wait!" Athrun shouted to his friend but Kira paid no attention to him.

"_This is bad, what if he's going to …I don't even dare to think about it!"_ Athrun thought. He panicked and ran after him.

**At the Iga village**

Lacus was sitting before her dressing table while the maids were helping her with the makeup. She was already in her wedding dress. Shinn and Stellar watched her at her room door, standing on duty, since security was tight on this 'auspicious' day.

"Stellar sense that Lacus is heartbroken"

"I suppose … That's how one will feel if one is marrying to someone whom one doesn't love" Shinn said without looking at Stellar.

"Shinn should've help Stellar convince Lacus to tell Kira"

"Ssshhhhhh!" Shinn immediately signaled to tell her to soften her voice. He looked around making sure no one is watching before he continued "If someone heard that …"

"This is a matter between life and death!" Stellar interrupted him. "Stellar is scared that Lacus might do something foolish later; at least if Stellar and Shinn tell Kira, Kira might be able to do something!"

"Like what, Stellar? Give Yunna a party bash?" Shinn joked.

Stellar smiled "That's nice. Lacus would like that, Stellar is sure about that"

"Oh well … Even if we tried to stop her I think it won't work"

Minutes later, Lacus was ready for the wedding and headed to the village centre, where their wedding is about to take place. As she ascended the steps to the top of the platform where Yunna was waiting, in his best suit, tears flowed out of her eyes. When she was reaching the top of the stairs, she closed her eyes and said softly in her heart "_Kira … I'm sorry_". After that, she opened her eyes and took the last step at the top of the platform.

"Today, we shall witness the marriage of a blissful couple, who …"

Lacus wasn't listening to what the man was saying; she was deep in thoughts, wondering what Kira would say about this incident.

"Yunna Roma Saran, are you willing to take this lady, Lacus Clyne, as your life long partner and love her for eternity?"

Yunna looked at Lacus, whom is not paying much attention to him "I will"

"Lacus Clyne, are you willing to take this gentleman, Yunna Roma Saran, as your husband and love him forever?"

Lacus paused and was about to say, "I will", when the noises of some fellow shinobi interrupted. Both herself and Yunna turned to face the crowd where there were many shinobi seemed to be on red alert.

Frustrated, Siegel stood up "What's going on?!"

One of the shinobi went up to him "Hokage-sama, a Koga shinobi seemed to have entered our village"

"Who dares to attack our village on the day of my daughter's marriage?!"

Following, an explosion occurred and the entire village centre was filled with grey, choking smoke. Lacus covered her nose to prevent herself from inhaling the smoke when someone grabbed her from the back and covered her face with a cloth. That person then jumped out of the smoky area and ran off. Yunna saw what had happened and shouted out to the nearby ninjas.

"The intruder had captured Lacus! All of you after him!"

All the ninjas obeyed and ran after Lacus. The remaining shinobi tried to get as many people out of the smoke as possible. Siegel got out of the smoke and ordered that only some ninjas are needed to get the people to safety, the others were to chase after the intruder and take Lacus back.

Lacus was knocked out by all the smoke she inhaled into her lungs, but after some time, she felt better and opened her eyes. She saw that someone was carrying her and that person had placed covered her face with a cloth. That person was dressed fully in black and had half of his face covered with a black cloth but she recognized him by his eyes.

"Kira?" She said weakly.

He looked at her "I'm glad that you're alright, sorry about the smoke, I didn't mean to make you to numb"

"Numb? You mean that smoke …"

"Yes, it also has such an effect"

"But why? Why did you come?"

"I …" Kira was interrupted by a sharp pain that he felt on his back.

"Kira!"

"I'm alright Lacus" Kira assured her "_I've totally forgotten that they're still pursuing me_"

Kira jumped away from the direction he was running in and headed towards the forest. Shinn and Stellar happened to see them passing by and they both ran towards the woods, also ensuring that no one noticed what they were doing. Kira entered the woods and tried to lose the pursuing ninjas on his tail by running in many different directions but they were well-trained and were able to stay on his trail. Kira tried to think of something fast to escape when suddenly, the ninjas after him stopped running towards him. He wondered why when the thick tree branch he stood on broke. Upon reaching the forest floor, he noticed that someone was there waiting for him.

"Father" Lacus said softly beside Kira.

"Return me my daughter and I'll let you leave alive"

Lacus looked at her father and back at Kira. Kira looked at her and replied "If I return her to you, will you not force her to marry?"

"What?!"

"You made her marry someone who she doesn't have feelings for, that's something I cannot forgive, but if you are willing to cancel the marriage …"

"Shut up! How dare you speak to me like that?"

"If you disagree with my terms, I will not return her!" Kira said firmly.

"You shall die talking to me like this, and what's more, with those eyes!" Siegel drew out his katana.

Lacus panicked and went in front of Kira.

"Don't! You cannot defeat my father!"

Kira closed his eyes and opened them "Dying is better than letting you live the rest of your life with regrets"

Lacus looked at him, with her eyes watering. "Kira …"

Kira looked at her once again, before drawing his kunai "I believed this day would come ever since I met you Lacus"

Lacus looked back at him.

"I knew that someday, I would have to fight your father like this"

Kira and Siegel then ran towards each other and started to engage in a battle.

**_Thanks for all the new reviews, especially those readers who liked my story, I'll try my best to make this story a great one ... Though I think the storyline is kind of strange ... I don't know if you guys find it weird or anything ... _**

**_For some people, like my sister, hoped that I have more romance scenes between other Gundam Seed Destiny couples, such as ShinnXStellar and AthrunXCagalli. I'll try to add them in but pls take note that this story is more dedicated to KiraXLacus, as I'm a big fan of theirs._**


	9. Chapter 9: White Mage

**CHAPTER 9: White Mage**

Kira ran towards his powerful opponent and withdrew his kunai just in time to block Siegel's katana from slashing into him. Siegel withdrew backwards and pierce the blade he's holding into the ground, unleashing an attack from the ground. Kira got surprised and jumped backwards, as quickly and as high as possible, barely managing to avoid the attack. Beads of sweat flowed down his cheeks as he was caught completely off guard by the power of his enemy.

"Kira …" Lacus started to feel really nervous and was afraid that the worst may happen.

"_This doesn't look good_" Kira thought as he stared at Siegel "_I didn't expect that his attack would be earth-based. If this continues, there's a high possibility that I won't be able to leave this place alive"_

Siegel looked at the stranger as if he could read Kira's mind "It's not too late to back out"

"What are you talking about?"

"I could tell that you're beginning to feel afraid of me, after finding out that my attacks are earth-based"

Shinn and Stellar were watching nearby, ensuring that no one is watching them.

"Shinn, Stellar can sense that something bad is going to happen"

"Me too Stellar, I doubt that Kira could survive if he continues this battle, after all, Hokage-sama's attacks are so powerful that the one that he used just now. I've seen Hokage-sama's powers before when I was younger, and that attack he used shows that he's just warming up, but Kira on the other hand had just only managed to dodge the attack barely and was lucky to do so. That attack could mean serious injuries"

Stellar looked at him, stunned "What do Shinn think Shinn and Stellar would do?"

Shinn paused as Kira and Siegel engaged into a battle once again "I guess we should go look for Kira's friends"

"Huh? Kira's friends? But we never seen them before, how could we …"

"If they found out about Kira's absence, they should be looking for him right now and we might run into them. That's the best solution I can think of right now"

They both nodded to each other and disappeared into the woods.

**At the other end of the woods, near Koga village**

Two shadows were seemed running into the woods.

"How could you just tell and leave him like that?!"

"I thought that he should be the first one to tell, but I never thought that things would turn out like this!"

"Athrun!"

"Look, I'm sorry alright?! Now all we have to do is to concentrate on finding him first"

"Fine! If anything bad happens to my brother, I'll hold you responsible"

"Okok, whatever Cagalli, let's go!"

**Back at the battle scene**

Kira was loosing his breath fast; he had never fought an opponent as powerful as Lacus' father. Barely 15 minutes had past and he was already sustaining deep injuries at his right shoulder and left leg. Lacus was watching still and felt as if she was totally useless, being able to stand there and continue watching her father slowly kill the man she deeply loved. Tears were flowing down her face like an endless river as thoughts about Kira dying before her filled her mind.

"You can't win, I'm sure you know that" Siegel stopped his attacks and looked at the young man with the mask. Kira was already starting to lose his strength and he couldn't even manage to stand.

"This is your final warning. Leave now or you shall die here"

Kira was too weak even to look at the Hokage, but he gathered the remaining strength he had left and gave his opponent a firm look. "Like I told you … I'm not going to leave without Lacus … … Even if it's going to cost me my life"

Lacus looked at Kira as he smiled at her weakly beneath the mask he was wearing, and shook her head, telling him not to choose death. Kira closed his eyes and opened them as Siegel spoke again.

"Then, I shall then grant your wish!" He tightened his grip on the katana and ran towards Kira to deliver the final blow. Lacus looked in horror and without thinking, she ran in the middle of the two men and grabbed the blade of her father's katana with her hands before her father swing it down on Kira. Her father watched her, surprised as her hands started to bleed.

"Lacus …" Kira spoke softly and weakly.

Lacus looked into her father's eyes "Father, please no! Please spare his life"

"Why? Why are you doing this for the enemy?"

"I … Because I …" Lacus wasn't sure if she should tell her father the truth, and at the same time, those were the last words Kira heard when he fell flat onto the ground, being knocked out by the tremendous pain he had been experiencing. Lacus turned round to look at him when another thick layer of smoke came clouding her view. The area was filled with smoke and she was knocked out from the back before she was about to say "Kira?".

**At a cave**

Lacus woke up from unconsciousness by some voices outside the cave she was in and noticed that her hand has been bandaged. She sat up slowly and looked around her, noticing Kira some distance away from her.

"Kira!" She shouted without thinking and ran to his side. Kira was unconscious and his wounds were pretty badly bandaged with some white cloth. Later she noticed four shadows coming into view and found out that two of them were people whom she knew.

"Shinn? Stellar? Why are you guys here?"

Stellar kneeled down beside her "Stellar glad that Lacus is alright"

"Ya, and does it hurt? Your wounds? I didn't mean to knock you out that hard"

"It's ok, Shinn" Lacus diverted her attention to the other two people whom she did not recognize "And you guys are?"

"I'm Athrun Zala, a good friend of Kira's, and this is Cagalli, Kira's sister"

"Nice to meet you, so I suppose that you guys are the ones who saved us"

"Well, it's not really our credit" said Cagalli "Thanks to Shinn and Stellar for leading us to the both of you"

Lacus smiled at them and looked down at Kira.

"Is he alright?"

There was silence and after some time, Athrun spoke "Well, he doesn't really look good"

Everybody started to feel depressed.

"Stellar says that it's best if Kira is brought to a doctor"

"But how Stellar? Where can we bring him to see a doctor?"

"I think it's best that we head to Euphoria and get a doctor there"

"But Cagalli, it's going to take us at least 2, 3 days to get there and I don't know if Kira can hang on for that long"

"We have no choice; it's better than staying here and wait for my brother to die!"

"Cagalli's right" Everyone looked at Lacus. "We have to try and hopefully it'll work out fine"

"So that's settled then" Shinn said "I guess its best that we set out tonight"

Everyone agree and the four of them left the cave to get some food and water. Lacus stayed behind to look after Kira. She removed one of the bandages and looked at his wound at the shoulder. Gently, she touched it and she realized that Kira has become conscious.

"Kira"

Kira opened his eyes slightly. "La … Lacus?"

Lacus smiled with tears flowing down her cheeks "I'm glad" She then buried her face onto him "I'm glad that you're still alive"

Kira smiled and placed his hand weakly onto her head "I thought … I was going to die … And won't be able to see you anymore" Lacus looked at him. "But I'm also glad that … that day hasn't come yet"

Kira shut his eyes and moved his left hand over his shoulder wound.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have touched it" Lacus replied in a hurry and Kira shook his head.

"It's not your fault … It's just that … I can't believe … I managed to escape death … with such wounds"

Lacus stared at his wounds and then into his eyes. Kira smiled at her and closed his eyes once again.

"Kira? Kira?!" Lacus started to panic "Please … Kira … Please no!"

Athrun, Cagalli, Shinn and Stellar heard her voice and rushed into the cave, only to see Lacus crying.

"What is it Lacus?" Cagalli went forth to ask her but Lacus paid no attention to her.

"Kira! Kira, please don't die!"

Everyone was dumbfounded upon hearing Lacus' words. Lacus placed her hands over Kira's shoulder wounds and spoke as she cried.

"If there's anything I could do … In exchange for his life … I would gladly do so … Please, just don't let him die" After that, she buried her face onto Kira's body and continued to cry her heart out.

Everyone stood in silence, not knowing what they should do when a ray of white light suddenly glowed in the cave. Athrun, Cagalli, Shinn and Stellar watched in amazement when that ray of light slowly healed Kira's shoulder wounds but Lacus didn't seem to realize what was happening as she continued crying.

"La … Lacus?"

Lacus looked at Shinn without realizing what was happening. "What is it Shinn?" Shinn did not spoke but continuously stared in the direction of the white light. Lacus turned to face Kira and understood why her friends looked so shocked. Kira's wound had started to heal and after awhile, the light went off and the wound had completely disappeared when Lacus removed her hands.

Cagalli stared at Lacus with her mouth wide open. "How … How did you do that?!"

Lacus looked at her hands. "I don't know"

"Could it be?"

"What is it Athrun?"

"Cagalli … I was wondering, ever since we found out that Lacus is the princess of the Iga village, why she does not possess any shinobi powers"

"You mean that … that light is her powers?"

"Yes, that should be it" Athrun smiled at his friends and put his hands into his pockets "I guess that we have a white mage among us"

Lacus felt her spirit lightened that she had some powers after all. After all the things that Kira had done for her, she was now able to do something for him in return. Shinn and Cagalli quickly removed all bandages on Kira for Lacus to heal him and it took some time for Lacus to be able to harness her new powers.

**The next morning**

The sunlight shone onto Kira's face as he woke up from his long sleep. He sat up and was surprised that all his wounds had completely healed. He looked around for Lacus and spotted her outside the cave cleaning up the mess that the group made the night before.

"Lacus"

"Kira!"

She ran towards him and instead of hugging him, she fell onto him. Kira quickly grabbed her before she fell onto the ground.

"Lacus! What's wrong?"

Lacus simply opened her eyes and smiled at him, trying her best to sit up herself as the group returned with some hunted animals and water. Everyone was pleased that Kira was alright already.

"You better thank her Kira" Athrun told him as Stellar helped Lacus into the cave to rest "She stayed up all night healing all your wounds"

"Healing all my wounds? What do you mean?"

"Last night, something happened that made us understand that pink princess better. I guess you don't know but she possess the power to heal"

"A healing ninja? I've never met one of those before"

"Me neither, but what I saw last night told me that they're an amazing group of shinobi"

Kira nodded and headed into the cave to see how Lacus was doing.

**At the Iga village**

Siegel was frustrated with himself for not being able to save his daughter. He recalled the time when the thick cloud of smoke irritated his respiratory systems and he wasn't able to breathe normally, allowing the enemy to escape. He believed that his daughter was kidnapped by some other Koga shinobi that came to take his daughter and that kid (Kira, in his point of view) away. Yunna entered his room just as he was ordering people out of his room.

"Hokage-sama"

Siegel turned to look at Yunna and calms himself down.

"I'm sure you're disappointed over what happened"

"Yes sir …" Yunna answered as politely as he could.

"I would like you to find out who the young Koga shinobi who fought with me yesterday was, and what he's planning to do with my daughter"

"As you wish, Hokage-sama, I'll get into the matter right away"

Yunna bowed and left the room, leaving Siegel staring into the morning sky. He closed his eyes and only one thing surfaced in his mind.

"_I guess … that it's about time that we settle our scores once and for all … Lenore Zala!_"

**_Oh no ... as I looked back ... it's been really a long time since I last posted ... SO SORRY!!!! _**

**_I've spent the past few week pondering over the entire story I wished to create and I finally gotten it out. Unfortunately the problen now is with all the typing. School has started and there're many things to do, so I shall try and get the rest of the chapters up. In advance, I would like to inform readers that I can't describe fighting scenes very well, so bear with me if you find it quite hard to understand the battle scenes._**

**_In the previews, one of the readers actually asked me if the shinobi in this story of mine have the abilities as those in the anime Naruto. I indeed took some details from Naruto but not the abilities area. It may sound quite weird but in this story, as you might have realised after reading this chapter, each and every shinobi actually specialised in a particular field or element of attacks. In this particular chapter, you would have found out that Siegel specialises in earth-based attacks while Lacus specialises in healing abilities. The field or element that the other characters specialise in will be revealed in further chapters ... so stay tuned! _**

**_PS: You will get to see more of the other couples in action, aside from Kira and Lacus, in the futher chapters as I had 1 or 2 chapters prepared for all but the main couple._**


	10. Chapter 10: Separate Paths

**CHAPTER 10: Separate Paths**

"Lacus!" Kira called out to the pink-haired princess as he entered the cave. Lacus heard his call and turned to face him.

"Are you ok?" Kira asked her gently as she smiled in reply.

"I guess Athrun told you everything"

Kira only nodded as she continued "It's no big secret anyways"

At that moment, Athrun, Cagalli and Shinn entered the cave to join Kira, Lacus and Stellar, looking as if they just had a serious meeting before they entered.

"Kira, one question, what are you and Lacus planning to do?" Athrun asked.

"Oh yeah! After all that has happened, Kira and Lacus can't just walk back to your respective villages. Stellar don't even want to know what the people would do with Kira and Lacus"

Everyone nodded in agreement except Kira and Lacus. Kira looked at the ground, deep in thoughts when Cagalli broke the silence.

"Run away together"

Everyone stared at her as if they had a fish bone stuck in their throat.

"How could you say something like that Cagalli!"

"Come on Athrun! What other choices do we have?!"

"But …"

"I guess that's the only path we can take now" Kira interrupted Athrun as he tried to argue with Cagalli.

Everyone turned their attention to Kira as he continued "It does seems like both Lacus and I have to leave this place for now till things calm down"

"We'll inform you both when that time comes" Shinn said in agreement.

"Do Kira and Lacus need some food for the journey? Stellar can head back to Iga to get some"

"No thanks Stellar, Kira and I will be alright. We'll get our food supplies from Euphoria since it's not that far from here"

"Where do you intend to go?" Athrun asked with curiosity "I don't think there's any place where the Hokage won't look"

"Beyond the mountains of Euphoria" Kira replied after some consideration. "Tell us anything that's going on in both villages while we're away"

"Ok, make sure you guys head there with haste and take care!"

After that, Kira and Lacus left the area, heading towards the neutral village, as the remaining four shinobi headed back to their respective villages as quickly as possible to prevent anyone from suspecting the reason behind their disappearance.

**At the Iga village**

Siegel started to make preparations for the war without attracting the attention of the enemy. However to his disappointment, all the shinobi were quite restless after Lacus' kidnap and do not feel like fighting. They even argued that the Koga village may hold Lacus as hostage if they tried to attack.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Siegel was yelling as loud as usually within the past few days. "They won't hold my daughter as hostage! I dare them!"

"But Hokage-sama, shouldn't we rescue Ms Lacus first before we start a war? I mean, she might be in danger if we just attack like this"

Outside the Hokage office, along the corridor, Shinn and Stellar were walking to meet the Hokage when they overheard the loud conversation in the office.

"Don't you think I've already thought of that?! Now go and get all our shinobi ready! I want them all well-trained, even the Chunin!"

Outside, Shinn and Stellar were getting worried.

"This doesn't sound good …" Shinn whispered to Stellar as she merely nodded. But they were too deep in thoughts to hear the door open, revealing their teacher Gilbert Dullindal, who was just about to leave the office.

"Well, there you two are, I was just about to go look for you guys"

"Er … sensei, what's going on now?" Shinn asked him.

Gilbert paused and looked back into the Hokage office, where the Hokage was looking out of the office window.

"It's best that we talk outside this building"

He then led Shinn and Stellar out of the building after closing the Hokage office door.

**At Koga Village**

Athrun and Cagalli had just returned to the village when Mwu came running towards them.

"Where have you two gone? And where's Kira?"

"Er …" Athrun started and looked at Cagalli, hoping that she thought of something good to cover Kira's absence.

"My brother's gone away for sometime to train alone" Cagalli said quickly with a breath.

"Training along?" Mwu looked at the both of them, looking suspicious. "What if the Iga shinobi attacks him?"

"Don't worry too much, sensei" Athrun replied. "Didn't you say that Kira's the most gifted student you've ever thought? You should have more confidence in him!"

Mwu gave this statement some thought "Guess you're right Athrun … so when is he returning?"

"Well, it may take a long time … we're not sure, he didn't tell us"

"I see … Hopefully he returns soon … Mizukage Sama has something to tell him and you two as well"

Cagalli was shocked. "Tell us? Personally? What could be so important that she has to do that?"

"I don't know. I told her that I can help her pass the message to you 3 but she insisted to meet you personally"

"Oh ok, we'll go and see her immediately"

**With Kira and Lacus**

Kira and Lacus were traveling up the mountains after stopping at Euphoria for some light shopping for some food and water.

"Silent Mountains. I've never heard that such a place existed." Lacus told Kira as she was trying her best to walk properly across some uneven rocks behind him.

"I've came here before, for some training sessions. Sensei said that no shinobi usually come here so it should be safe for us.

"I see, but where are we actually headed? What's beyond these mountains?"

"I'm not exactly sure, I've never went beyond these mountains before"

Lacus looked upwards towards the mountain top and wondered what was lying beyond awaiting them. However she didn't notice a piece of rope on the ground and upon stepping it, the rope unleashed a trap and pulled her off the ground and into the top of a huge tree. She screamed as she fell into it.

"Kira!"

"Lacus!" Kira shouted as he ran towards her, climbed the tree and took out his kunai. But no matter how hard he tried, the rope was amazingly undamaged.

Kira found it strange and his senses tell him that someone is approaching. He immediately jumped off the tree and took a glance around without moving, with his kunai on the ready to attack. No one was approaching them in Kira's opinion however a huge ray of multiple color attack attacked him out of nowhere and Kira managed to dodge the attack. To his relief, the attack did not scratch the tree that Lacus was in. Kira looked into the direction of the attack and saw a man with brown hair walking towards him.

"Who are you?" Kira asked him with a dangerous tone, thinking that the man was a shinobi from Iga village.

The man came into view and he stared into Kira's eyes. Kira felt threatened and tried to keep himself focused on this stranger. The stranger later calmed down and smiled at him.

"I thought who it was, so it's just a Koga shinobi"

"Huh?" Kira felt rather awkward as the stranger walked towards him.

"By the looks of your eyes, you must be a Koga shinobi. I've seen a lot of those eyes since my young days" He paused and walked right up to Kira, pointing his right index finger at Kira's forehead. "But this is the first time I've seen a Koga shinobi that has soft eyes"

"Soft eyes? What do you mean?"

"I meant that the first impression that you give me is that you're the type of shinobi that don't wish to fight unless it's totally necessary"

"You can tell all this just by looking directly into my eyes?"

"Well, it's not like I've never gone through your age before"

"Before you read anymore of my mind, may I know who are you?"

"Me? I thought you would know who I am just by looking at me"

Kira looked at him closer "No, I've never seen you before"

The stranger laughed at this statement "Surely your sensei did tell you about me before. I used to be a Koga shinobi, before I retired and come here to live" He held out his hand to Kira. "I'm Andrew Waltfeld, nice to meet you … er …"

"Kira, Kira Yamato" Kira went forward to shake his hand. "So you're really Andrew Waltfeld? Mwu sensei told me about many stories about you"

"Yes, well, I was quite famous at the village at my time, but now I'm all old and retired."

"Mr. Waltfeld, may I ask that you let Lacus down from the tree? If that trap is yours"

"Lacus? You mean Lacus Clyne?" Andrew looked up into the tree "How are you two related? Couple?"

Seeing that Andrew had read his mind once again, he merely nodded.

Andrew climbed the tree and took out an ordinary looking knife and cut the rope, allowing Lacus to fall out of the trap. Kira ran forwards and catches her before she fell.

"A Koga shinobi falling in love with the Iga princess. I guess that explains why the both of you came here. To run away from the villages"

"Yes, I hope that you can help us Mr. Waltfeld" Lacus said politely.

"Andrew is just fine. Come to my house, we can talk better there"

**At Iga village**

Shinn and Stellar were listening to the explanation of their sensei. After they've heard everything, there was silence.

"War? But that's not going to solve anything!" Shinn broke the silence.

"I tried arguing with Hokage sama but it didn't go so well. He insisted of having a war"

"Stellar worried … Stellar don't want to fight"

"There's got to be a way out of this, sensei!"

"I'm afraid not. No one had dared to go against Hokage Sama so we just have to do as we're told. Besides, he insisted that you guys will have to start serious training with me, the elemental way"

Shinn and Stellar were stunned and both exclaimed at the same time. "No way!"

"I thought that only top shinobi are allowed to use elemental ways of training?" Shinn asked.

"Yes but now he insisted that we do this. I got a meeting with the other teachers now so I'll see you both tomorrow in the morning for training"

After saying that, Gilbert ran off leaving Shinn and Stellar shocked.

"Shinn, Stellar feels that there's going to be bloodshed again"

"I understand Stellar, unfortunately we don't have the power to stop all this at this point of time. I guess the best way out is to inform Athrun and Cagalli. I don't want to see any innocent people die"

Stellar nodded "Stellar agree with Shinn"

**At the Silent Mountains**

Kira and Lacus got to Andrew's house in the middle of the mountains. His house is quite small situated beside the base of a huge waterfall. Andrew poured them drinks as they sat down on the grass outside the house with Kira and Lacus explaining the situation to him. Andrew looked down as he spoke.

"I can understand your feelings. The same thing happened to me years ago. But instead the girl I loved was killed and after that I lost the desire to fight anymore and came here to live"

"I'm so sorry" Kira and Lacus said as they heard this.

"Well, that's all in the past. But I won't let the same tragedy happen again. Both of you can stay here if you want. I can teach you some shinobi abilities if you want"

"You will?" Lacus asked.

Andrew nodded. "Kira has great potential, I can tell. I shall pass on my powers to you. As for Lacus, I shall teach you how to control your healing abilities better"

"Thanks a lot, we owe you one"

"Oh come on, it's just a minor matter" Andrew laughed at them as the couple smiled at each other.

"So when shall we start?" Kira asked.

"Tomorrow I guess, you both looked dreadful. Are you sure you guys got enough sleep within the past few days?"

"So I take it that you want us to go to bed for now" Lacus smiled at him.

"Or I shall deprive the both of you of tonight's dinner as well as breakfast tomorrow" Andrew joked.

**_Since I've got the entire storyline out, perhaps updating this would be much faster than usual. Here's the next chapter! _**

**_As for the reviews, thanks to those who liked my story. When I first made it out, I was wondering if anyone would comment by saying that this is a really weird story. Luckily there are none so far ... _**


	11. Chapter 11: The other couples

**CHAPTER 11: The other couples**

**Iga Village – On the streets**

Serious training for the upcoming war has begun and most shinobi, especially those who never learnt elemental attacks are struggling to keep up with what their teacher is teaching. The element that every shinobi specializes in is chosen by their teachers. It is no different for Shinn and Stellar, who spent most of their first five days learning how to unleash at least a bit of their abilities.

"Man! This sure is tough" Shinn, who was sweating profusely, was speaking to Stellar the evening when they finally manage to unleash their power. Stellar was making fast progress and Shinn had to struggle to catch up with her.

"If Shinn needs more practice, Stellar is more than willing to help Shinn"

"That's nice of you, Stellar. But not today, Gilbert sensei's training's so tough that I had to forgo about 3 nights of sleep nowadays just to train"

"Stellar knows that Shinn is going through a lot of hardship. Why don't Stellar treat Shinn to dinner tonight"

"Oh really?! Thanks Stellar, anyways I'm starving"

Shinn pulls Stellar to the nearest food shop.

**Iga Village – Shop**

"So what are you going to treat me today?" Shinn asked.

"Anything you liked. Stellar's treat!" Stellar smiled sweetly at him. Shinn kind of blushed but he tried to look normal.

"I won't stand on ceremony then!" Shinn signaled to a waiter nearby to take the order.

"I would like to have 2 Oyako Domburi, 4 Miso Ramen, 5 Yakitori …"

"Shinn" Stellar interrupted him "Isn't that a lot already? I don't think Shinn and Stellar can finish that much food"

"Oh ok, just one more dish ok?" Shinn replied and turned back to the waiter. "And 2 plates of Nigiri"

After the waiter moved off to the kitchen, Stellar turned to Shinn and spoke to him in a whisper.

"Shinn, Stellar feels that Shinn and Stellar should tell Athrun and Cagalli about the upcoming war"

"About that Stellar, it's true that we should tell them but how? Sending a letter with all the details seems risky, if someone in this village finds and reads it. We'll both be in a lot of trouble"

"Stellar suggest that Shinn and Stellar go meet Athrun and Cagalli at the Spring of Hope. There Shinn and Stellar can explain everything to Athrun and Cagalli"

"The Spring of Hope? Where's that?"

"The place where Shinn first saw Kira when Shinn's mission is to rescue Lacus, remember?"

"Oh that place! I didn't know it has such a name"

"Stellar can later write a letter to meet Athrun and Cagalli there"

Shinn nodded as the waiter came to their table carrying two trays. "Your Miso Ramen and Yakitori, sir"

**Koga Village - Outskirts**

Cagalli was sitting on a huge rock by the riverbank, daydreaming and only snapped out of her thoughts when Mwu called her.

"What's wrong with you today, Cagalli? It's not like you to daydream during training times"

"Sorry, sensei. It's nothing, perhaps I didn't get enough sleep last night" She got to her feet and continued to train. Athrun was training too but he stopped to take a glance at Cagalli. He knew that she was not focused nowadays from the very first day of training after the wedding incident, being so preoccupied with thoughts of her elder brother and future sister-in-law. Cagalli did not smile for a couple of days already and it worries Athrun a lot as he knew that Kira would expect him to take care of her in his absence.

"That's enough for today" Mwu's voice broke Athrun out of his thoughts. "Cagalli, I hope you could be more focused from tomorrow onwards"

"Understood, sensei!"

"Training tomorrow, same time same place" Mwu finished and went off back home.

"Cagalli" Athrun approached her and placed his right hand over her left shoulder. "I know that you're worried about Kira and Lacus but can you please don't make it too obvious?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"If Kira really did go away to train alone, sensei will not expect you to look so worried. Or I guessed, he's already begun to suspect us"

"Ok fine, I'll try to do better tomorrow" Cagalli walked off for a few steps before turning back to face Athrun. "About what your mother said …"

She was interrupted by a bird landing on her shoulder, carrying a letter on its left leg. Cagalli immediately untied it as Athrun went forward, and they both read its contents together.

_A and C,_

_If it's possible, we would like to meet the both of you at the Spring of Hope tonight at midnight. We got some important issues to talk about. As for the 'missing couple', we would also like to know if you guys got any news about them. Hope to see you tonight … _

_PS: Please avoid being late …_

_S and S_

"What could it be? These important issues"

"Beats me, but I guess we could go, since we're free tonight"

**Koga Village – Shop (2 hours later)**

"What's the deal for asking me out for supper again?" Cagalli asked as she glanced around. They are going to meet Shinn and Stellar after supper and Cagalli finds it weird that Athrun has invited her for at least one of the 4 meals for the past week. Athrun blushed, held his pants tightly and thought that it's time to do what he wanted to do since he first met her.

"Cagalli" As she looked at him, his face became serious. "I wanted to say this ever since the first time I met you but I was never able to pick up the courage to do it" Cagalli listened, at the same time, wondered since when Athrun learnt to be so brave-looking in front of her.

"But since I saw what Kira choose to go through to give Lacus happiness, even if it means he would die doing it. I've believed that I would be able to do the same … the same … to protect you, Cagalli" His voice started to become really shaky. Cagalli stared at him, dumbfounded. She has never seen him so serious during their friendship days. But still, she believed that what she thought Athrun would say next is true. "Cagalli, I wished that you can give me a chance … a chance … a chance … to be your boyfriend"

He then went over to her side, took out a ring from his pocket and put it onto her finger. She looked at him, smiling more girlish than anything that Athrun had ever seen her.

"You idiot" She said to him as she continued smiling "You don't have to go through watching what my brother did just to say something like this to me"

Athrun was relieved that Cagalli accepted him. After their supper, they found a deserted alleyway on the way to the spring and kissed for the first time.

**Spring of Hope**

Shinn and Stellar were waiting at the entrance to the cave, where Kira and Lacus first slept together, when Athrun and Cagalli arrived.

"It's been sometime" Athrun broke the silence in the spring.

"Yes, now we would like to tell you something … something of great importance to the Koga village" Shinn said seriously.

"What is it?" Cagalli asked.

Stellar took a step forwards. "Hokage sama is going to declare war on Koga, in about 2 more weeks time"

"WHAT?!" Athrun and Cagalli exclaimed at the same time.

Cagalli: "But … But … How's that possible?"

Athrun: "That's what Gilbert sensei told us"

"It's just like what Lenore Sama was suspecting" Athrun replied. "She told us that she felt tension arising from Iga and has the feeling that war is breaking out soon"

"What's more" Shinn interrupted. "In Hokage sama's plans, I believed that he is not only going to war, but also conquer your lands"

Cagalli: "That's not good at all. If there's going to be war, then blood will be spilled again, people were losing their families, children losing their parents …"

Stellar: "It's unavoidable, some people will say. But Stellar believe that there is a way to go around this"

Athrun: "And we shall do this without Kira"

Cagalli: "Athrun! Why do you say that?"

Athrun: "Kira has gone through a lot, and I think he will need some time for himself and Lacus. Besides, rumors about them are still spreading. If they come back, there might be more tension, especially if the Siegel Sama or Lenore Sama finds out"

"Yes I agree" Shinn agreed, siding with Athrun. "We shall not tell them then. Besides, we don't have a clue where exactly they're headed"

Cagalli: "So I guess now we need to think of ways to avoid this war"

Stellar: "Talking to the leaders won't work. That's something Stellar is sure about"

Athrun: "How about influencing the people? If their unity is strong enough, this war may be avoidable"

Shinn: "But one question, how are we going to influence them? If Hokage Sama finds out, he will begin to suspect us as perhaps spies?"

Athrun: "We cannot do anything either. If we tell Mizukage Sama, or influence the people, they may start to wonder where we get all the information from"

Cagalli: "Perhaps we can tell them that we overheard some Iga shinobi talking about it when we went to Euphoria for awhile"

Shinn: "That's not a bad idea. And remember to be ready when our side attacks. I don't want to see innocent ones being killed by an ambush"

Stellar: "And also make sure Koga don't ambush us either. Or Hokage Sama may suspect that there are spies among us"

Athrun: "Agreed then. Cagalli and I will start to make plans for the war. Then you guys have to find ways to avoid war"

Shinn: "Though I have the feeling that this war is unavoidable, we shall try"

**_Quite short ... I admit, this chapter is. But I really cannot think of anything else to say as I'm not that much of a AxC and SxS fan, so therefore sorry to all AxC and SxS fans! The next chapter may take a longer time to be uploaded due to a couple of reasons, I'll try my best to make it a good one._**

**_More reviews pls! So I know which areas of my writing (typing) needs and can be improved ..._**


	12. Chapter 12: Truth Revealed

**CHAPTER 12: Truth Revealed **

Our story continues a month later. War has begun when Iga attacked Koga. Shinn and Stellar had tried ways to avoid the war but to no avail.

**Koga Village – Outskirts**

"Shinn" Stellar called out to him as their troops are approaching Koga fast.

Shinn made sure no one was listening and went forwards to Stellar "What's wrong?"

"Shinn, Stellar don't want to fight. What if Athrun and Cagalli did not manage to make preparations on time? What if what Shinn and Stellar are doing now is really an ambush?"

"Relax Stellar, trust me. I believe that Athrun and Cagalli had made all the necessary preparations. Let's go before they suspect us"

Stellar nodded and they both quickly ran forwards to catch up with the rest of the troops, just in time to see an explosion occur at one of the houses near the outskirts of the Koga village. There were screams and many people were seen running everywhere. The Koga shinobi jumped into action to protect their people and begun fighting the Iga shinobi that are invading.

**Koga Village – Within **

Athrun was busy ordering the Koga shinobi around. He only managed to evacuate part of the village before the Iga ninjas attacked. Cagalli was helping out with the evacuation plan and ran over to Athrun after she has completed her work as her area assigned had been evacuated. Athrun was busy shouting at a group of shinobi when she went up to him.

"Where's Mizukage-sama?! How could you guys be careless?!"

"Athrun!" Cagalli called him, in time after he ordered them to help out to hold the Iga shinobi off "What's wrong?"

"My mother, we cannot find her since we started the evacuation"

"She couldn't go and find the Hokage, could she?!"

"Hopefully not. I've heard that when two top-ranking shinobi fight, the scene is really horrifying!"

"And I've heard that they usually won't stop until one of them is dead"

"Don't scare me Cagalli!"

"I'm not! I'm just speaking the truth! Besides, don't you have faith in your mother?"

"I do but, I don't know exactly how strong he is"

"Shinn and Stellar have seen his powers before, remember Athrun?! They told us that they've seen the battle between Hokage and Kira"

"We can't possibly talk to them about it now, can we? We're in a battle now" Athrun then turns into a whisper. "If we see them, we have to at least act a bit"

"Yes, I know that, so what are your orders for me now?"

"Orders?"

"Come on! Be your mother's son!"

"Alright, alright! Help the others out with the evacuation; I want a small group of 5 doing the evacuation while the others are to hold them off"

"That's more like it!" Cagalli said to him as she hurried to another area to help out.

**Silent Mountains**

Kira was panting as he was training with Andrew. His training was no easy task but he was sure that he was pushing his potential as a shinobi to the limits. That night, when Lacus was making dinner, Andrew went out to Euphoria to purchase some products, as Kira lay on the grass beside the base of the waterfall.

"Lacus"

"Yes, Kira?"

"It's nice to be able to live like this" Kira replied to her looking into the night sky. "Where there are no wars, no conflict, and no tension"

Lacus came out of the house carrying a pot of hot soup and pour some of it into a bowl and pass it to Kira.

"Yes, I wished that too, Kira. But I believe that that day will come and the both of us will be living together like this without worrying about anyone wanting to kill us"

"It's good that you guys are enjoying yourselves here" Andrew interrupted as he returned. "Sorry but I've got some bad news. At Euphoria, everyone was talking about the war currently taking place between Iga and Koga"

Kira and Lacus stood still at their positions stunned.

"War? But how's that possible?" Kira spoke softly.

"Who started it?" Lacus asked.

"Word gone around that it was Iga who first attacked Koga. But I'm not …"

"I'm going" Kira interrupted.

"Kira!" Lacus looked at him with a worried look.

"Lacus, if I'm not mistaken. All this had happened because of me. In their opinion, they may be thinking that Mizukage sent me to kidnap you and hence declare war. But all this has got nothing to do with Koga. I'm responsible for all this. I took you away for my own desires"

"Kira …" Lacus then gave him a firm look. "If you're going, so am I"

"Lacus …"

"I'm too responsible. If I've chosen not to marry, you needn't come to save me and this would not have happened."

"Stop blaming yourselves" Andrew interrupted them. "What's done is done. Going back may not solve much anyways"

"Why are you saying that?" Kira felt anger in him for the first time since Andrew started training him. "Do you expect us to just sit back and do nothing?!"

"Relax Kira, I didn't say anything like that" Andrew answered him. "There're some things that the both of you don't know. A bit of Iga and Koga history"

"I've learnt about the history when I was a kid, there's nothing special" Kira said, trying to recall.

"Though they do teach the younger generation some of our history, there're some things that even the current Hokage and Mizukage don't know"

"How's that possible?" Lacus asked. "Both Hokage and Mizukage know the entire history of our villages"

"There are some things that I believe they don't. If they knew as I did, they wouldn't fight each other anymore but perhaps, joined forces"

"I don't understand" Kira replied, frowning.

"Me neither" Lacus agreed.

"Well, if you two don't mind if I use some of your time to bring you back into the past"

"Ok, but make it quick"

"During my younger days, as a Koga shinobi, I fell for an Iga shinobi. I was actually to be killed when Mizukage found out about it. But he didn't as our people objected, but I got banished from the village for the rest of my life. The girl I loved decided to leave with me, you know, go somewhere where we can live the rest of our lives in peace. But she got killed during her escape with me, and told me, with the last of her strength, her final wish. She wanted me to bring peace to both villages. So after I've came here, to the silent mountains and settled down, built a house and everything. I started to attempt to fulfill her wish but looking for means to find out how war initially begun. In school, I've learnt that Koga and Iga started out as two separate peace-loving villages. So I felt strange to the reason why they ended up fighting each other. They didn't teach us anything at school about it, that's another weird thing"

"So what did you do then?"

"What I did? Well, I went to the capital. I thought that their library records should have some information about it. But I've found none, which I found absolutely weird. The government did not keep a record of anything that happened to Iga and Koga, not a single one. Then one day, I came across an old book, a really old one, seems to be at least 50 over years old, it was a diary. I cannot believe my eyes when I read its contents …"

"What is it about? Who wrote it? Can you trust this person?"

"At that time, I was also asking myself if I can trust him, but I saw the seal. That cannot be fake; he is a one of the government officials. According the contents, the government was responsible for all. They made both villages turn against each other, in fear that the shinobi might overpower them"

"That's … That's impossible!" Kira was dumbfounded, so was Lacus.

"If the both of you don't trust me, you can trust this" Andrew took the book out from his jacket, flipped to a particular page and hand it over to them. Kira took it and read its content, with Lacus reading at his side. The pages of the book were so old that some edges of the papers were torn and the pages were all yellowish and dirty. The entries were quite short, seems like the writer did not have much time to write it, and Kira also noticed the year that the diary entries were written. It was about 150 years ago!

_September the 14th _

_Today is the results of the election, to be honest, I was really nervous at the thought that I didn't sleep at all. I went to the parliament house earlier, praying that I've got what I wanted after 4 months of hard work. I was there, at my seat, feeling extremely nervous, for about 2 hours before the ex-president arrived to announce the results and was really pleased to find out that I've got one of the very positions I wanted! My wife was pleased and she personally cooked me a delicious candlelight dinner of steak! I was looking forward to tomorrow, my day in office!_

_September the 15th_

_My first day in office! I was dressed in my best clothes before heading to the office. It was quite a pleasant day, until the new president called for an urgent meeting for all government officials. It was getting late already and I've promised my wife to be home for dinner early, but there's no choice, this is my job! So I gave her a call saying that I cannot be back in time for dinner. She understood and we managed to finish our conversation in time for the meeting. It's the meeting that ruin the rest of my day, the president was considering the elimination of the well-known villages of Iga and Koga, which are located over the silent mountains! He said that the existence of shinobi in the country creates a risk for the government, that shinobi had the power to overthrow the government if we did something they are not in favor of. Honestly thinking, I trust that they're innocent. They have been so peace-loving for about 100 years already! So how is it possible that they will turn against us?! It's difficult to argue as the president's stand was really firm and convincing. I sincerely hope that war will not break out …_

The rest of the entries were hard to read as the words have faded so much and Andrew took the book from them and flipped to another page. He then returned it to Kira's hands and the couple continued to read.

_October the 20th _

_Bad news! No matter how hard I tried, I cannot turn the tables around. The government proceeded to secretly spark war between both villages. They intended to make both villages feel that one is creating war on the other. They did not release the news into the media, so prevent them from losing the support of the other human population. They also faked and send troops to quiet things out, obviously the troops don't know the real truth and thought that the government was really sincere to try their best to stop the war. It's really terrible! All my life … I've never done something so underhand! I tried to object by approaching the president personally today. It took less than 10 minutes and I was fired! How unreasonable can he be?! I really pity the people for electing such a selfish president! I gladly resigned as I don't have to serve such selfish people anymore! _

"This is really ridiculous!" Lacus said after they both read finished

"But it's the truth, nothing was change what has already happened" Andrew replied.

"But you could use this! Show this to the people of the villages and they can understand" Kira suggested.

"I tried, but they don't even let a banished shinobi into Koga, let alone seeing the Mizukage. And I thought going to Iga won't help much, as I trust that they won't believe a stranger talking about something as important as this"

"So what you did was return here and lives the rest of your life like this?"

"No, though I did came back to my home, here at the silent mountains, but I've been thinking about ways to overcome this misunderstanding"

"I see, but I think we should still go back" Kira said.

"This war won't end by simple means, keep that in mind"

"Yes, I know" Lacus agree. "But I guess we can try to tell them the truth"

"Since, the both of you insisted, I won't force you to stay" Andrew told them. "At the meantime, I shall check out the capital once again, after all these years, to see if there are any new details. I will inform you guys"

"Thanks for everything, Andrew" Kira said as the both of them left towards Koga.

"Kira!" Andrew called as Kira turned back to face him "About the skills I've passed down to you. Don't use them too recklessly; you just might as you're still young."

"Don't worry, I will remember that, sensei" Kira answered as he turned back to embark on the journey home.

"All the best to the both of you, my young apprentices" Andrew shouted over Kira's shoulder as they left.

**_The next one up! Abit sooner than I've expected, but hoped you guys liked it! _**

**_For those who read chapter 10 and are wondering what Andrew is going to teach, I'm sorry to say that I won't reveal it, but obviously you will read about how much Kira had learnt from him, and how much stronger Kira has grown just after only a month of tough and serious training. What's more, the showdown of Hokage vs Mizukage is coming up! In the next few chapters, you'll be able to find out about the elements that the other characters specialises in. During that month, Athrun, Cagalli, Shinn and Stellar were also trained to specialise in different elements, you'll get to know them pretty soon. And the element of another character, surely, you will get to know is the Mizukage ... _**

**_So stay tuned! Reviews are, of course, welcomed!_**


	13. Chapter 13: Hokage vs Mizukage

**CHAPTER 13: Hokage vs. Mizukage **

**Koga Village**

Shinn and Stellar are doing their job but they tried their very best not to wound the people of Koga too seriously. They just knocked a Koga shinobi out when they saw Athrun and Cagalli nearby helping out with the evacuation. They ran forward and were blocked off by some Koga shinobi who thought that they were after the civilians

"Step back" Athrun ordered them. "I'll take care of these two, hurry up and get all the people into the shelters!"

The shinobi obeyed and immediately helped out with the evacuation. Athrun, Shinn and Stellar put on a show by pretending to fight each other till they reached a remote part of the village.

"You guys are early!" Athrun spoke as he panted. "We have yet to finish evacuating"

"Sorry but are your people safe?" Shinn asked.

"Everyone, I guess. But for some reason, my mother was nowhere to be seen"

"Mizukage? Oh no, Stellar got a bad feeling about this" Stellar, who was keeping a lookout, spoke over her shoulder.

"Hokage sama was also nowhere to be seen after he ordered us to commence attack" Shinn added.

"This should mean that they will meet up somewhere quiet and …"

"Then we've got to find them fast! Before a dangerous battle begins"

Shinn and Stellar went to search the areas surrounding Koga while Athrun returned to find Cagalli, informing her about what he had just found out.

**Koga village – Far outskirts**

"It's been a long time" A shadow in the darkness spoke as it approached another at the opposite end.

"Yes indeed and I shall not forgive you for attacking my village tonight" She stepped into the moonlight, revealing herself as Lenore Zala.

"One of your ninjas have kidnapped my daughter and escaped" He too stepped into the moonlight, revealing himself as Siegel Clyne. They both were in their shinobi clothes. "Do you think that I will step aside and do nothing about it?!"

"I assure you that that ninja who kidnapped your daughter is not one of us. He's probably trying to frame us and make us fight another war. Surely you understand, Siegel, we've not fought for at least 20 years now. Would you let someone like him spark another war?"

"I shall not hear your lies! I can tell, as I've cross blades with him before, that he's one of your ninjas"

"You then leave me no choice. The peace that we've kept between each other shall then crumble by your misunderstandings!"

Both of them drew their weapons slowly and quietly, preparing for a fight anytime.

**Koga village**

"Cagalli!" Athrun yelled as soon as he saw her in the distance

"What is it Athrun, everyone in this area has successfully evacuated except this child. I think his right leg is broken, he can't even stand at all"

The boy was crying as Athrun bend down to examine it and when he does, he explained the situation to Cagalli as softly as possible

"That's really bad" Cagalli stood up when Athrun finished talking

"Guess so … And I guess his leg is really broken"

"Let me help" Lacus came out of nowhere, bent down and placed both her hands onto his leg. After about a minute or so, his leg was fully healed. The boy stared at her as she helped him to stand up.

"There's a shelter over there, go to it. I believe that you can find your mum there" She indicated and the boy ran towards it.

"Lacus, why are you here?" Athrun asked.

"I heard the news that war broke out and decided to come back to stop it"

"Where's Kira?" Cagalli later asked.

"He's currently looking for Mizukage and my father"

"So my brother knew about it too?"

"Yes, and I hoped that he would be able to find them before they even started fighting"

Lacus, Athrun and Cagalli ran off to find Shinn and Stellar, as well both Hokage and Mizukage

**Koga village – Far outskirts**

Siegel drew his sword while Lenore drew her long knifes. They both ran towards each other, with Siegel stabbing the ground, causing the ground to move like a water wave toward Lenore. Lenore then quickly stabbed these 'waves' at its weak point, causing the 'waves' to become frozen solid.

"Impressive, Lenore"

"You too, unfortunately, your icy powers are no match against my ground attacks"

"I don't think so, don't forget, I haven't forgotten the point of weakness in your attacks"

"You sure have a good memory but that's not all! Depending solely on those weaknesses that you recalled won't fully save your life!"

They ran towards each other once again. This time, Lenore focused her energy on the nearby stream, causing the water freeze and forms the shape of a huge ice dragon. The dragon went directly at Siegel who barely dodged the first attack of the dragon ramming into him due to its fast speed. The dragon turned round and went back at Siegel, who focused his power into his katana and stabbed the ground hard, creating a solid ground barrier and the ice dragon rammed into it, shattering into countless pieces of ice. Siegel then leaped over that ground barrier and went directly at Lenore, who is ready to strike back. But he was knocked off course in midair and was headed to a huge tree due to the impact. He quickly used the earth to pull the tree slightly aside as he grabbed hold of a tree branch and jumped back onto the ground. Lenore was surprised by the person who helped her.

"Kira-kun? Are you training?"

"Mizukage sama, I shall explain everything later, but for now, the both of you must stop this fight"

Siegel was taking a closer look at him and recognized him almost immediately

"Now I have proof Lenore! He was the one who kidnapped my daughter! Though he wears a mask that time when we crossed blades, I still remembered those eyes!"

"Kira, did you?!"

Kira looked down onto the ground, still in defensive mode, as he spoke.

"Yes, I admit that I did take Lacus away from the village, but …"

"You should have told me that!" Lenore became furious. "Not just that, you shouldn't have done that in the very beginning! Didn't you consider the consequences? Didn't you think that war might break out once again due to his foolish act on your part?!"

"In your opinion right now, it may sound foolish, but after I explain it all to you, I believe that you will come to my point of view"

"KIRA YAMATO!" Lenore was starting to flame up. "Till now, at this very point in time, you still trying to tell me that you're not responsible for all these?!"

"I don't mean that, it's just that …"

"Enough!" Siegel interrupted. "I'm not here to listen to the both of you arguing. Lenore, let's settle this once and for all!" He held up his blade, preparing to attack.

"Fight me in her stead" Kira replied before Lenore could even speak. "Mizukage sama, if I'm truly at fault, I should be the one fighting, not you"

"Kira, as the mizukage, I'm also responsible for every mistake that every Koga shinobi make"

"No, this is my mistake and mine alone. I did all these just on my personal opinion, nothing to do with the village"

"Like I've said earlier, I didn't travel all the way here to listen to the both of you reasoning things out!" Siegel launch an attack, the ground shook and it came at them in the form of a wave, twice the size of the one he did earlier.

Lenore stepped forward but Kira jumped in front of her, drew his katana and swing it across the 'wave'. The wave stopped at that position and as Kira landed back onto the ground, the top half of the 'wave' fell off sideways, as it's been cut into half. Furthermore, the both half turned black and fell back onto the ground as ashes. Both Lenore and Siegel were taken back upon seeing his power. It's an ability that they've never seen before.

"Hokage-sama" Kira broke the silence among them. "Since I was the one who kidnapped your daughter, you could just come after me and kill me, don't have to drag my village along"

"I see that you've grown more powerful than the last time we've met, Kira Yamato. But saying that won't change my mind about destroying Koga"

"Look, this conflict between both villages is caused by the government"

"Who would believe that?"

"I have evidence that both Koga and Iga were peace-loving villages till the government stepped in and created plans to make both sides fight and destroy each other!"

"Is that really true Kira?" Lenore spoke after some time of silence.

"I cannot believe it in the first place, but I swear that it's the truth"

"No one will buy that story as it's …"

"I will" A voice interrupted Siegel from the bushes.

"Lacus?!" Siegel was taken back when his daughter stepped out of the bushes.

"Father, our true enemy is not each other, so please stop fighting!"

"What's the meaning of this?" Siegel asked her. "Why are you siding with them?"

"Father, Kira did kidnap me but it's solely due to the fact that he loved me"

"If he truly loves you, he should give way to your wedding!"

"I didn't tell you back then that I don't have any feelings for Yunna!" Lacus exclaimed

"Lacus …"

"I didn't want to marry Yunna back then, but I feel that I got to keep my relationship with Kira from you for the time being. I'm sorry …"

"If that's the case, then …"

Siegel was interrupted by the sudden change in weather, from a clear blue sky into a black sky with thunder roaring. The wind became much stronger than usual and some weak trees became uprooted, as if there is a tornado coming. Kira went to Lacus' side and held her tightly whereas Lenore and Siegel stabbed their blades into the earth to prevent them from being blown away.

"It's been a long time" A voice came out of nowhere "I was surprised that this war would end so easily solely by two people"

"Who's there?!" Siegel exclaimed.

"Hahaha … I don't expect you to know me Siegel Clyne, after all, I was never one of your people"

"This voice … you're …" Lenore started to recall.

"Lenore Zala? I'm amazed that you're now Mizukage, impressive!"

"You're … you're … Rau Le Creusset!"

"I'm honored that you still remembered me" Cruz came out of some bushes.

"Why are you here?!" Lenore asked, with her face looking stern.

"I came to watch your match against the Hokage, as I believe it's going to be interesting"

"This is a war, not a playground for you!"

He signed. "Is this the way you greet an old friend, Lenore?"

"You're no longer one of us, you said that yourself!"

"My, my, your temper is still as short as it is in the past"

Lenore went up to Cruz and swings her knifes at him, each of which freezes anything that it came in contact with. But Cruz blocked the attack just with his hand, holding on to the blade without receiving damage. All four of them were stunned but Cruz merely smiled.

"Is this all you got, Lenore? I was expecting that you've grown much stronger during these years. If I had not been banished, I would have became the next Mizukage"

Cruz pushed her back and went forward and placed his hand onto her shoulder. Something black appeared between his hand and her shoulder and blood began flowing out. Lenore clenched her hands in pain but she could not get out of his grip as there was a force preventing her from moving, coming from Cruz's hand. Kira went forward and swung his katana at him, while Cruz stopped it with his other hand.

"Do you think a mere kid like you can stop me?"

"Kira …" Lenore spoke with a weak voice. "Stop it … you won't be … able to defeat him"

Cruz smiled once more. "Be good and listen to your leader boy"

But Kira's smile wiped the smile off Cruz's face. "A mere kid huh? You haven't see what I've got"

Kira twisted his katana sideways and a ray of blue light outlined his entire body. His pupil became bigger and a darker purple (SEED mode) and a large field of energy came flowing from the earth into his body. The blade of his katana turned from silver to a shiny black.

"This is …" Cruz was speechless upon seeing this power, a power that he never thought an 18-year-old teenager can ever possess.

Kira once again swung his katana, with twice his original speed and this time, he managed to slash Cruz's hand slightly, forcing him to release his grip from Lenore. Cruz jumped back slightly as Kira slowly turned back to his normal self and his blade turned slightly back to silver.

"Seems like I've underestimated you kid" Cruz said with a smile as his hand was bleeding. "But that doesn't really matter now, I've got what I wanted" He left with a loud and evil laugh and the weather regained its peacefulness. Kira walked over to Lenore who is sitting on the ground holding on to her injured shoulder.

"Mizukage sama" Kira started but was interrupted by Lenore.

"I'm alright"

"I don't think you are" Lacus said gently. "Here, let me help"

Lacus placed her hands over Lenore's shoulder and it began to heal.

"Thank you, princess"

"Lacus, will do"

**_Sorry to those who wanted to read the next few episodes as I took a rather long time to finish working on this chapter. _****_I admit that the battle wasn't that all exciting but I did this as I wanted to make the story as long as possible, so forgive me! _**

**_More reviews please! And thanks to those who comment many times! I really appreciate them!_**


	14. Chapter 14: Temporary Peace

**CHAPTER 14: Temporary Peace**

"Lacus" This was the first time Lenore was treated by someone from Iga

"Lenore-sama" Kira's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "That man just now, do you know him?"

"Yes, Rau Le Creusset is one of the Sannin during my time. He was one of my teammates"

"Sannin?" Siegel finally spoke. "He's one of the three Sannin of Koga?"

"You know anything about this, father?" Lacus asked.

"Koga has a tradition that states that only 3 people of every generation of ninjas can become Sannin, one of them will in the end become the next Mizukage after the previous one steps down or dies"

"So he was one of the three …" Kira was pondering.

"About your powers just now Kira" Lenore asked. "How did you get it? There's only one person whom I knew had such power, unless you've met him …"

"Andrew Waltfeld, is it not" Kira interrupted. "Yes, I learnt it from him, and I also knew that he was also one of the Sannin of Koga"

"How is he now?"

"He's leading a peaceful life in the Silent Mountains now, you need not worry"

"Thank goodness, I was worried that he might do something foolish after that girl's death"

Kira looked at Siegel. "Now after all these, Hokage-sama, you could now cease fire on our village"

Siegel closed his eyes and pondered. "If what you said earlier about the past is indeed the truth, I shall propose that we combine forces and attack the government"

"But Father"

"Lacus, everything that our ancestors have gone through and suffered was due to their selfishness. We got to take revenge!"

"But we can solve all these by other ways instead of war, can't we"

Kira went forward behind Lacus. "It depends on the situation, if they're still using those means, then I guess a war might be unavoidable. But if the current government does not know of their despicable past, it's also not entirely their fault"

"KIRA!"

Cagalli cried out when she, Athrun, Shinn and Stellar came running out of some bushes.

"Kira! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Cagalli. So don't you worry"

"Athrun, Cagalli? What're you two doing here?" Lenore asked.

"Shinn, Stellar … the both of you …" Siegel spoke as Lacus interrupted.

"The four of them already knew about the relationship between me and Kira"

"You should have told me about it Athrun!" Lenore said strictly.

"But mother, I …:"

"Athrun just wants to avoid war" Cagalli interrupted him. "He was afraid, like Lacus, that if either of you found out, war may broke out"

"Athrun …"

"I'm … I'm sorry mother"

"It's okay, I understand. So Siegel, we now know who's responsible for all of these, shall we put an end to the war in my village now?"

"I guess so, but I won't let the government get away with this"

"In other words, you will be going after the government?"

"Are you willing to let them go after all that they've done to us? With our ancestors?!"

"But war won't resolve anything that has already happened!"

"You'll never know if something like that may happen again" Sigel said as he turned away & disappears into the darkness.

"Siegel …"

"Don't worry, Misukage-sama. I'll watch over him" Lacus replied as she follows her father.

"Lacus"

"It's alright Kira. I'll watch over the situation at Iga for now, & you can do the same for Kouga"

Kira nodded as he smiles at her. "Be careful" He then moves forward to kiss her on her left cheek before he watch her disappear into the darkness.

"Seems like the relationship between the both of you have gotten stronger"

"Athrun, you're making my brother feel embarrassed"

"It's okay Cagalli" Kira turned to look at them. "That's nothing now, since everyone knows about it already. I guess we should now all return to Kouga"

**Iga Village**

Lacus has just entered her village alongside with her father when Yunna came running to her.

"Lacus-sama, are you alright my dear wife? I was so worried when you got kidnapped during our wedding that I've sent countless ninjas to look for you immediately"

"Erm, yes I'm fine now" Lacus answered him, feeling annoyed inside while looking normal on the outside. However her father seemed to know what she was thinking.

"That's enough Yunna, she's safe now, let her go home & rest"

"Oh, you're right, Hokage-sama. Did you find the person who kidnapped her & killed him?"

"I shall talk about that some other time now. My daughter is exhausted and I'm taking her home now"

"I can do that for you, Hokage-sama. I'm sure you've got a lot of work to do. I can also talk to her about our next wedding and I can assure you that there won't be any mistakes this time"

"I'm tired after the battle, so we'll discuss it some other time. If there's nothing else, please step down now!"

"Erm, as you wish" Yunna's expression changed & quickly walks away before Siegel can say another word. Lacus gave a sign of relief as her father walks towards the direction of their home.

"Lacus"

"Yes, father?"

"I've done that doesn't mean that I've approved of you being with Kira"

Lacus was stunned by those words but she continues to keep quiet as her father continues.

"I can sort of tell the love that you both have for each other, but …"

"He's still from Kouga"

Siegel stopped in his tracks as his daughter interrupted him.

"But he can't choose to be born in either village. Despite all that, you should understand father"

"It's nothing about that, Lacus. I do respect him as a person but I don't fully trust him still" Siegel continues to walk on towards their destination, leaving Lacus in her thoughts.

"_You mean that you want to get to know him better before approving us. I understand your point & I know you'll get to trust him someday_" Lacus thought before walking faster to catch up with her father.

**Kouga Village**

The village was badly damaged after the Iga ninjas have retreated by order & the Kouga ninjas immediately started working on cleaning up the village with the help of the uninjured people. Lenore was busy in her office ordering her men around to help out with the repair works as Athrun & Cagalli helped out with the wounded.

"Things would be much easier if Lacus was here"

"Quit complaining Cagalli; just be thankful that we can help the village in some way"

"Need my help?" Kira has just entered the tent where many injured people were waiting to be attended to.

"Just on time Kira. It'll be good if you can help speed things up abit"

"Sure thing, Athrun" He started to search the first-aid kit for some bandages.

"So what did Lenore say about those documents you got from your new sensei?" Cagalli asked.

"She didn't say much actually. I'm guessing that she's just too shocked to say anything for now. I think I'll ask her again after she has calmed down"

"To think that things actually turned out that way, how horrible … I've never expected the government to be involved in our matters"

"I also think in that way Athrun" Kira said as he pulled out a roll of bandages. "They've never taken any action all these years for as far as I know"

"Easiest way is to head to the capital & ask them" Cagalli suggested.

"Sounds like suicide to me"

"Why is that so Athrun?"

"Just think about it. I don't think they're the type of people who will accept the fact that they're in the wrong"

Cagalli was pondering over what Athrun said when Kira broke the silence as he bandaged the injured arm of a man. "Anyways, perhaps we just need to get stronger for the time being"

"My mother said that you had new powers"

"Yeah, what about them?"

"I would like to try it"

"Athrun!"

"Relax Cagalli, just a friendly match won't hurt"

"Do you think your thunder can hurt him? He's trained by a Sannin!"

"Lightning? That sounds interesting … so you guys have been learning elemental techniques in my absence"

"Kira … not you too?!"

"It's okay Cagalli, as long as it's not a match to the death"

"Oh man …" Cagalli placed her hand onto the upper half of her face with her eyes closed.

**Iga Village: Lacus' room**

"What are Lacus' future plans?" Stellar asked

"Hmm, I haven't thought of that yet"

"You ask this question too suddenly Stellar. Perhaps we should give her more time before asking it. After all, she has just returned"

"That's alright Shinn. I guess I should've made some plans at least"

"You can talk to Kira. Since the both of you are now closer"

"But Kouga is now …"

"Not to worry Lacus! Stellar knows that Misukage-sama won't mind letting Lacus go into Kouga to meet Kira"

"What makes you say that?"

"Well … actually Stellar & I went forward to ask her just now"

"I see … I guess I might go & see him tomorrow & perhaps help out with their wounded"

**_So sorry! It's been over a year since I last posted a chapter! So sorry to those who liked my story & has been waiting so long! _**

**_As always, reviews are welcomed!_**

**__**


	15. Chapter 15: Elemental Specialties

**CHAPTER 15: Elemental Specialties **

**Outskirts of Kouga: Open field**

The sun rises as Kira approached the open field with Cagalli following him. He was enjoying the freshness of the morning air when Athrun came into his sight.

"You're late"

"It's just by a couple of minutes. Besides, we spent a lot of time yesterday helping out with the cleaning up of the village" Cagalli exclaimed.

"Anyways, let's get down to business shall we?"

"Kira, I still don't approve of the both of you fighting, though I know that you would end up trashing Athrun"

"Don't worry I won't kill him"

Athrun broke into a smile. "Even if he got the upper hand, you could always give me a hand Cagalli"

"What does that mean?! I don't approve the both of you fight so how do you expect me to join in?!"

"Calm down … I meant that if I'm in trouble you can help. Since the both of us are trained to use our elemental powers together"

"Is that true Cagalli?"

"I don't want to answer anymore of your questions!" Cagalli shouted in frustration as she stepped aside and sat on a big rock. It was obvious to her that the two guys aren't listening to every single thing she is saying. "If it's a fight that the two of you want, then get it done and over with!"

"Okay fine … Ready Kira?" Athrun said as he took his position

"Ready whenever you are"

**Iga Village: Entrance**

"Then I guess I should be going" said Lacus as she walked into the woods.

"Wait, is Lacus sure that Shinn and Stellar don't need to go along?"

"No, it's okay. I can move faster already, just like how you guys move"

"Let me guess, you learnt it from Andrew Waltfeld"

"Shinn is as smart as always"

"I don't need that sort of praise, princess"

"Anyways, see you"

"Shinn and Stellar will catch up soon"

**Outskirts of Kouga: Open field**

Athrun was panting after receiving a couple of attacks from Kira.

"Haiz … you're good really …"

"I've told you Athrun, you won't be a match for someone trained by a Sannin"

"Giving it a try won't hurt … but I'm really amazed that you don't seem to be affected by my attacks"

"Your attacks are way faster then before"

"Oh yeah … but you're still faster" Athrun said as he continues to pant from exhaustion

"Shall I make things easier for you?"

"Meaning?"

Kira lowers his katana as it turns from black to silver. "Reverting it back to its normal form should be easier for you to handle"

"That's unadvisable" Cagalli whispered under her breath.

Athrun smirked. "You're underestimating me, Kira" He removes a piece of weight attached to each of his legs & runs towards Kira at amazing speed. Kira barely managed to block his lightning kick attack with his katana.

"_I see … those weights actually slow you down_" Kira pushed Athrun back with his katana & touches the blade of his katana with his right hand from one end to the other. The blade turned black once again upon his touch. Athrun, who was thrown back, jumped towards Kira for another attack, which Kira once again blocked with the blade of his katana.

"That's it … show me what you've got"

"You haven't seen anything yet!" Kira jumped backwards as Athrun created a hole in the ground due to his lightning attacks. Kira then moved in for his next move.

Cagalli was watching the both of them battle as she heard a voice behind her.

"Those two sure are serious"

She turned around to find Mwu standing just behind her.

"Sensei, since when you got here?"

"I was watching this battle since it started. Seems like Kira has indeed grown a lot. I doubt Athrun can hold out much longer"

"I've already advised him not to fight against Kira"

"But it's good training though. It actually strengthens his experience against strong opponents"

"_Man he's strong … I've never seen him like this before …"_ Athrun thought as he continues to attack Kira continuously, which Kira either blocks or tries to counter back. "Is this all you got? I know you can go more than this"

"I don't want to hurt you, Athrun"

"I don't mind getting hurt" Athrun closed his right hand as if he was clutching a small round object as his left hand holds onto his left wrist. A surge of electricity forms in his right hand as his eyes turn red.

"_This power_ …" Kira thought, feeling stunned. _"What is it?"_

"No way … that's …" Cagalli stood up on the rock in shock.

Mwu nodded. "He's losing it again"

"Athrun stop it!" Cagalli exclaimed.

Kira stared at his sister and back to his good friend. _"What's going on with him … the energy field around him became so strong all of a sudden"_

"Cagalli" Mwu called out. "Stop him now"

"Understood sensei" Cagalli puts on a pair of translucent gloves and muttered something under her breath with her eyes closed. When she opened them, a huge tornado of water from the nearby river flows upwards into the air towards Athrun. Athrun, who noticed it, avoids the first attack by the water. The water then surrounds him and consumed him from all directions. After a few minutes, the remaining water flowed back into the river. Cagalli took off her gloves and ran to Athrun's side.

"Athrun, are you alright?!"

"Yeah, I'm fine" Athrun answered as he wiped some water droplets off his face. "Nice water bath you gave me back there"

"That's not funny!"

"What was that?" Kira asked Mwu as he watches the both of them talking.

"Chidori, a technique that I taught him but he doesn't seem to be able to control it well yet though"

"So now Athrun is a thunder god while Cagalli is a water princess"

"You can say that though" Mwu answered with a smile.

"Kira!" A voice interrupted their conversation as a pink-haired girl came into their sight when they turned to their back.

"Lacus!" Kira runs towards the girl and they embraced each other.

Athrun caught sight of Cagalli, who was also watching that couple. She turned away from him once she noticed the blue-haired boy is watching her expression.

"Why are you here?" Kira asked her as they released each other from their grips.

"I was wondering if I can help out your village in any way"

"Everything has been settled here. So what's your father planning now?"

"I don't know. He hasn't told me anything yet"

The fallen leaves of the nearby tree suddenly float into mid-air and flies towards Kira, who moves in front of Lacus and slashed the leaves into two.

"Who's there?!" He called out sternly, thinking that it was someone after Lacus. However, Lacus touches his sword hand and makes him lower the katana.

"It's alright Kira … that's not an enemy"

Stellar suddenly jumps out of the bushes behind the tree. "Kira's good! Stellar admires Kira"

"You're … Stellar?" Kira said.

"That's not a nice entrance Stellar" Shinn appeared moments later after Stellar.

"You guys catch up pretty fast" Lacus told them.

"That's cause Stellar wants to see Kira's improvements. Anyways, Stellar finds it fun to test Kira's skills"

Cagalli went forward. "Not you guys too, after Athrun?!"

"Everyone is really curious about Kira's new powers that's why" Athrun said. "It's kind of strange that you're not curious"

The roots of the tree suddenly grabbed Kira's right leg from below as they speak. Kira slashes it off and jumps away from the ground.

"Kira can't dodge in mid-air!" Stellar exclaimed as 4 tree vines grabbed each of Kira's hands and legs

"Kira!" Lacus called out to him.

"Stellar, that's enough" Shinn told her.

"But the fun is only beginning … Kira haven't shown his powers yet"

"So that's what you want" Kira said as breaks free from the vine due to his strength. A huge black ball of energy forms at the tip of his katana and it flies towards Stellar. Both Shinn and Stellar dodges as the black ball turns the soil beneath them earlier, into ashes.

"_That's interesting_" Mwu thought.

Stellar then places a seed on the ground. Upon contact with the ground, the seed grows into a huge tree with extremely long vines. The vines went towards Kira but they burst into flames as Shinn snapped his right fingers with his eyes closed.

"Why Shinn burn Stellar's vines?!" Stellar exclaimed.

"It's enough Stellar. I think Kira is exhausted from the battle with Athrun earlier. You doing this will only make Lacus worry more"

"It's okay with me" said Lacus with a smile. "Kira's fine anyways. I believe in his strength"

"But I don't think it's enough for Rau Le Cruset" Mwu suddenly breaks the cheerfulness of the group. "He's the strongest among the 3 Sannin in the past. If you're really thinking of dealing with him, Kira, I would advice you not to"

"You know about that guy?" Shinn asked.

"Not much. I've seen him before though. But I've never liked his personality"

"What element does he specialize in?"

"Flare attacks"

"Isn't that something like Shinn's fire attacks?" Lacus questioned.

"It is indeed fire-based, but flare is the higher level for those who specialize in fire-based techniques. And only a minority group of ninjas have achieved that level. For as far as I know, so far in Kouga, only 6 people had achieved that level since the village was found by our first Mizukage"

"That bad huh?" Kira said as he looked at the ground. "After all these 1000 years history that we got, only 6 managed to reach that level?"

"Yes, and Rau Le Cruset was one of them"

"Things won't be easy if we're going to deal with the government then" Athrun said after a long moment of silence.

"Exactly" Mwu agreed. "Mizukage-sama now is currently thinking of a way to deal with the situation"

**_This chapter is up pretty quickly after I posted the preious one not so long ago ... The purpose of this chapter is merely to introduce the various fields of elements where each character specialises in_**

**_Anyways, my Mid-Year exams are coming soon in about 2-3 weeks so got to post as much as I can to make up for my absence for the past whole year. So you guys can expect that there won't be any chapter uploads during my Mid-Year exam period. _**


	16. Chapter 16: New Combined Mission

**CHAPTER 16: New combined Mission **

**Outskirts of Iga: Top of hill**

"The sunset here is beautiful" Kira broke the long silence.

"I agree" Lacus said as she lay her head on Kira's right shoulder. "If only time can freeze at this time"

"It will. We can come here and look at the sunset everyday after the dispute has been settled.

"Sorry to disturb you guys" Shinn appeared behind them.

"Has the meeting ended?" Lacus asked immediately.

"Not yet, Athrun's getting really impatient outside the meeting room"

"He's been like that since young" Kira said understandingly.

"It's strange … for them to take this long" Shinn pondered.

"But it's fine for me" Lacus answered. "So I can stay with Kira like this for as long as possible" She smiled at Kira, who smiled back at her.

"Erm … I'll come back and inform you guys when the meeting's over" Shinn told them as he walked away.

**Iga village: Outside Council meeting room**

"Athrun, can you stop walking up and down the corridor? You're making me dizzy" Cagalli said as she rested her eyes when she sits on the bench next to the entrance of the meeting room.

"It's only our first meeting with Iga for so many years and they took this long?"

"Stellar is more interested to find out what took Shinn so long" Stellar said in boredom as Shinn appeared around the corner of the corridor. "Speak of the devil!"

"Speak of what?" Shinn said in confusion.

"Never mind about that" Cagalli said before Stellar could explain. "How's their situation?"

"Do I need to explain?" Shinn sat down on the bench next to Cagalli. "They're obviously enjoying themselves and I really feel like a huge light bulb when I go take a look"

"He's shy now" Athrun teased.

"Anyone would feel embarrassed! Won't you?!"

"Cool it … it's just a joke"

The doors of the meeting room opened and Lenore Zala, as well as a few Kouga shinobi walked out, heading down the corridor towards the exit. Feeling curious, Athun and Cagalli followed her while Shinn and Stellar went into the meeting room to see the Hokage.

**Iga Village: Meeting Room**

Siegel seems exhausted after the long discussion as if it's been a battle he is fighting for the past few hours. He was speaking to Yunna and did not notice Shinn and Stellar until Shinn spoke.

"Hokage-sama"

"Have you guys been waiting for long?" Siegel asked as he sits on his chair.

"It's fine but may we know the results?"

"We've decided to investigate the government before deciding on what to do"

"Hokage-sama took so long to decide that?" Stellar asked.

"Not just that" Yunna said at last. "We've chosen to act according to what the outcome is. If the worst were to happen, we've got no choice but to go to war"

"You may leave for now, Yunna. I need to talk to the both of them in private"

"Understood, Hokage-sama" Yunna bowed as he took his leave.

Siegel waited till he closed the doors and was a distance from the room before speaking again. "I hope the two of you can help me watch over Kira"

"Do you still doubt him, Hokage-sama?" Shinn asked seriously.

"I wish I could trust my daughter with whom she chooses to be with. However, I can't take anymore risks"

"Other than that, Lenore and I have decided to let the six of you go to the capital as undercovers"

"The 6 of us?!" Shinn was taken back by surprise. "So both villages are working together now?"

"We need to find out what the government is planning and in the meantime, both villages will act as we used to treat each other in the past to avoid suspicision, just in case they have any spies in the area. Your Kouga friends will be informed of this mission from Lenore. The 6 of you need to dress like the people there and we've some dressers to help out in that area. You guys will leave by tomorrow morning if possible"

"Okay, we shall inform Kira and Lacus about it"

"No need, I shall inform them personally later"

"Anyway, did Hokage-sama tell Yunna about Kira and Lacus?" Stellar asked in curiosity.

"Not yet" Siegel said as he sipped his coffee. "I'm sure he'll ask me for an explanation and I'm not prepared to answer that yet"

"Pardon my rudeness, but can't you just tell him that Lacus is in love with Kira?"

"I can't. He might wonder why I could trust Kira so easily compared to him"

"He spent a long time persuading you?"

"No, it's not that. The reason is private"

"Stellar understands Hokage-sama's privacy"

"I see" Shinn replied right after Stellar.

"I thank you both for understanding"

**Iga Village: Inn**

Athrun and Cagalli were waiting at the inn when Shinn and Stellar enters. Athrun stood up immediately.

"Did Hokage-sama tell you guys about the mission?"

"Yes" Shinn answered as he took a seat. "He did"

"And?"

"We're going on this mission"

"See! I told you that they will accept the mission like we did, Athrun!"

"Whatever, so what about Kira and Lacus? Do they know about it?"

"Not yet I guess, Hokage-sama intended to inform them after Stellar and I got briefed on it"

"I see" Athrun looked into the ceiling. "I wonder what will be their reactions"

"As long as the situation can be solved, we don't mind going on this mission" A voice interrupted Athrun's thoughts as the couple entered the inn.

"So Kira is in too. So the 6 of us makes a good team!" Shinn exclaimed.

"Stellar pleased to know that Stellar can get to see Kira in action"

"You're overestimating me, Stellar" Kira said humbly.

"No no, Stellar believes in Kira's abilities of a Sannin. That, Stellar must see!"

"Sorry about that" Shinn whispers into Kira's ears.

"It's alright" Kira whispers back as he follows Lacus upstairs to the room where he stayed during the stay in Iga. Cagalli watched them go as Athrun spoke.

"Don't worry too much about him Cagalli"

"It's not about that"

"Oh really? You got a strong big sister look"

"Oh shut up! You're the one that's thinking out of the ordinary"

**Inn Room**

"What's wrong Lacus" Kira asked he closes the door

"I was just wondering, what's the exact truth that's waiting for us in the capital. It sounds as if something really serious and dangerous is happening"

"Everything's going to be fine" Kira replied as he sat on the bed beside the pink-haired girl.

"No, that's not what I meant" She gave him a worried look. "I've heard that that Sannin, Rau Le Creusset, he's not an easy opponent and I'm scared that he's so strong that even with all 6 of us combining powers …"

"You're being too worried Lacus"

"I was afraid" She began to tear now. "That I'll lose you"

Kira stared into her blue eyes and held her hands tightly. "I won't, I promise"

Lacus stared back into his purple eyes and whispered, "Kira"

Kira smiled back at her. "I won't want to lose you either, but I shall protect you with my life"

"Kira, please don't. If you die, I don't want to live either"

"But then, if I don't protect you and you died, I won't want to live too. And if I can't die, I won't forgive myself for the rest of my life"

"Kira, don't say that"

Kira held her hand to his chest. "I meant it from deep within my heart"

A sudden banging of the door made Kira released his grip from Lacus' hands as he stood up stunned. Shinn came into view and looked shocked.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to rush in without knocking or … perhaps I should've knocked … sorry"

"It's okay Shinn" Lacus said as she quickly wiped away her tears. "What is it?"

"Erm, I'm just to inform you guys that we'll be leaving tomorrow. So you guys should start packing now"

"Okay" Kira answered as he sat back down on the bed slowly.

"That's all" Shinn quickly leave the room after all.

**Outside Inn room**

Shinn heaved a sign of relief as he shut the door and saw Athrun, Cagalli and Stellar.

"What're you guys doing here?!"

"SHHHHHH!!!" Stellar immediately signaled to him to keep quiet.

"You guys made me interrupt their private moment for the second time and now you guys are going to tell me to …"

"Oh shush!" Cagalli said softly. "Told you to keep it down! We're just wondering what they're talking about"

"That's their own problem"

"No, it isn't!" Cagalli exclaimed. "We're now a team"

"Okay whatever. But next time, don't ever call me to interrupt their private moments together again" Shinn exclaimed.

"Okay okay, so shush it already"

"What're you guys doing here?" Kira's voice behind the door surprised them. The 3 of them stared at each other in shock as Shinn stood back.

"Can you 3 hear me?" Kira asked before he opened the door and stared at them. "Judging by your looks, you guys did hear me loud and clear alright"

"Erm …" Athrun started but Cagalli interrupted. "We ... we were just heading back to our room down the corridor"

"Oh really? Then why do you guys need to stay here for so long?" Kira asked suspiciously.

"Oh, we've dropped something and were looking for it" Cagalli answered quickly as Athrun and Stellar nodded quickly.

"Shinn? You tell me the truth"

"Erm" Shinn started but changed his mind on what he was about to say when he saw the faces of Athrun, Cagalli and Stellar staring at him. "Er yeah, they were indeed looking for something, though I don't know what it is"

**Next morning: Iga Entrance**

Siegel and Lenore were at the entrance of the village waiting with Athrun, Cagalli, Shinn and Stellar as Kira and Lacus approached the gates.

"We're going now, Mizukage-sama" Cagalli said.

"We're going too, Hokage-sama" Shinn said.

"Kira" Siegel called out as he approached the brown-haired teen. "I'm putting my only daughter in your care now. If I hear a word about you doing anything to her from Shinn or Stellar, I'm not going to let you go so easily"

"Father …" Lacus frowned slightly at her father.

"Even if he indeed do something to Lacus, I'm going to get at him before the news even reaches Hokage-sama" Shinn whispered to Stellar, who merely laughed upon listening.

"I won't" Kira replied confidently. "I shall protect her with my life"

"Trust him, Siegel" Lenore said. "Kira has never gone back on his word before"

"I do hope so" He replied as he stood back.

"Inform us of anything you guys find out immediately. Do not act recklessly; one wrong move may cause any of you your life. Keep a low profile also while you're there"

"Understood" The 6 of them answered as they leave the village towards the capital.

**_I'm now in the middle of the exams, but anyways, I did get this chapter done during my break times. Next chapter might take some time, although it's the holidays once I finish exams in a few days time, I've got some post-exams activities, but I shall get the next one up soon! So stay tuned!_**

**_As always, reviews are welcomed!_**


	17. Chapter 17: Japan's Capital

**CHAPTER 17: Japan's Capital**

**Unknown Place**

"Are we there yet?"

"You've been asking that for the sixth time since we've left Iga!" Cagalli exclaimed.

"Honestly speaking, I think we're lost" Kira admitted as they passed a river where they stopped for a short break.

"Perhaps we should've gotten the map from Mizukage-sama before we left?" Lacus regretted.

"But it's sort of too late now. I thought that Kira knew the way there so I told her that we don't need a map" Shinn said.

"Unfortunately I really don't know the way there, I've never even catch a glimpse of the capital before"

"I hope we can get there faster, these civilian clothes are really uncomfortable" Cagalli complained. "I want a bath"

"You'll get your bath the first thing we reached there, but for now, can't we at least figure out where we are?"

"Kira, shouldn't you know where we are? Since both you and Lacus lived somewhere in this area as well during those times of hiding?" Athrun asked.

"Oh!" Lacus stood up. "Kira, we could ask Mr. Waltfeld the way to the capital! Since he went there before, I believe he should know the way and what's more, his place isn't too far from here either"

"Alright, let's pay him a visit then" Kira agreed.

**Iga Village: Hokage Office**

"What?!"

"There's no need to sound so surprised, Yunna" Siegel said as he sat at his desk.

"But how could you trust my honey with them?! You should've sent me along!"

"Yunna, like I told you earlier, Shinn and Stellar are with her, so there's nothing to worry about"

"Excuse me" Lenore enters the office.

"You're …" Yunna looked shocked. "Mizukage-sama?!"

"At least you know me just by looking at me" She said, feeling annoyed. "I wonder what makes you think that my shinobi can't take care of the Iga princess"

"Oh erm … my apologies" Yunna said as he stood aside.

"What brings you here, Lenore?" Siegel asked.

"My men and I are leaving the village, so I'm here to bid you farewell"

"Let me send you off'

"No thank you, we need to keep our makeup after so many years, private just in case there're capital spies around to keep an eye on us, so we'll just leave"

"If you insist, Yunna watch them and make sure nothing happen to them when they leave. And don't make it look so obvious that you're making sure that they're safe"

"What?!"

"You heard me! Unless you would like some punishment to make your sense of hearing better" Siegel roared.

"Er, understood" Yunna stepped beside the door. "This way please, Mizukage-sama"

"Thank you" Lenore said as she stepped out of the office, followed by Yunna.

**Silent Mountains**

"Long time no see my young apprentices" Andrew welcomed them.

"It's good to see you well sensei" Kira said with a smile. "Mizukage-sama was worried about you"

"Lenore?" Andrew laughed. "Since when she started to learn to worry for me? She's always bragging about how lazy I was back then. Seems like the hostilities between both villages have been solved, judging by these two from Iga while the other two from Koga"

"I'm Cagalli Yula Attha, Kira's sister"

"Athrun Zala" Athrun introduced himself. "It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Waltfeld"

"Oh, the son of Lenore! You do have the eyes of your mother though" Andrew exclaimed. "And you both are ..."

"I'm Shinn, Shinn Asuka"

"Stellar, Stellar Loussier"

"Nice to meet you both as well" Andrew smiled. "So why did you bring your friends to see me?"

"Erm, it's not that. We've got a mission to investigate on what's going on in the capital"

"Finally taking action huh? So you need someone to tell you the way?"

"Yes, we've been lost for the past few hours so we decided to ask you since you lived nearby"

"Hmm, it's risky to go to the capital but I trust that you guys are smart enough to keep out of trouble" Andrew pointed over the mountain. "It's over there"

"Over the mountains?!"

"Yeah, I discovered it when I was younger, as I was feeling curious on what's beyond there. Just go to the submit and you'll be able to see the capital"

"That seems really far"

"Do you guys want to stay here for the night?"

"No thanks, sensei" Lacus replied politely. "Not this time, we're under a rather tight schedule this time. Mizukage-sama and father are waiting for our reports"

"I see, be careful there. Most important thing is not to trust anyone there, unless you're talking about directions around the capital that is, of course"

"Do you mean that …" Shinn started, but Andrew finished the sentence for him.

"The capital is huge? Yes, its hell of big, one of the biggest places you've ever seen in this region. But don't worry so much if you guys get lost in there. It's common for those who visit the capital for the first time. But don't wander alone also"

"Got it, thanks!"

**Koga Village: Mizukage Office**

"Any news from them yet?"

"Not yet, Mizukage-sama. I don't think they've reached the capital yet so please be patient" Mwu answered.

"I can't stop but feeling uneasy for sending Athrun, Cagalli and Kira there"

"Don't worry too much Mizukage-sama. I'm sure they'll be alright; after all they're the type that won't get killed so easily. But if you feel uneasy, perhaps backup can help?"

"No, it'll arouse too much suspicion. Guess I've got no choice but to wait for their replies"

**Capital: Unknown Office**

"Are you there?"

"Yes, Mr. Muruta" Rau enters the room.

"How're they doing?"

"The other Sannin of Koga is still alive"

"Really?"

"Yes, I saw his apprentice back in those woods, who's talented I admit"

"So the issue between the villages have been settled down?!"

"Seems that way sir"

"So what's their next move?"

"I haven't check in that area sir"

"Check it out. If they intend to send any shinobi here to settle the scores or investigate anything, kill them all"

"As you wish" Rau gave an evil smile as he leaves the office.

**Japan's Capital**

"Wow" Athrun whispered under his voice as they stared at the entrance of the capital. "This place is indeed huge! Just judge the size of the entrance"

"Finally I can take a bath!" Cagalli exclaimed. "Shall we go look for an inn?"

"Alright, Stellar wants a bath too!" Stellar agrees as they walked into the capital.

"Kira?" Lacus stopped as she noticed Kira not moving.

"Something's not right"

"What is?"

"I just recalled something from my childhood. And when I think of it now … it feels as if I've known Rau Le Creusset somewhere … somehow …"

"But how could that be possible?" Lacus asked.

"Kira!" Cagalli's shout breaks him out of his thoughts. "If you're not coming along, we'll be leaving you behind!"

"Wait up!" Kira answered as he took Lacus' hand and ran after them.

"This place is really amazing" Shinn admired as he looked around.

"Yeah, it's not called the capital for nothing"

"There's an inn!" Stellar called out

**Capital Inn**

The inn was bigger than those found in Iga and Koga. The group admired the size as they approached the counter.

"May I help you travelers?"

"Yes, we would like to have some of the rooms that are vacant"

"Oh sure" The innkeeper calculated the amount on his abacus and showed it to Cagalli.

"_No way_!" She thought "_It's too expensive!"_

Kira was able to tell what she was thinking and answered before she did. "Erm, we would just like 2 rooms please"

"2 rooms, here" The innkeeper recalculated the amount on his abacus and gave them the keys as they paid for the rooms.

"It's so expensive" Shinn whispered as they make their way upstairs to their room.

"Yeah, since this place is so advanced, but why is the inn keeper using an abacus when their technology is so advanced I wonder. I thought they would be using something more special"

"Perhaps he's on budget?" Cagalli guessed.

"You girls take this room" Athrun pointed out. "We'll take this one beside it"

"Wait Athrun, I want that room!" Cagalli argued.

"What's the difference?!"

"That room has a better side view of the city!"

"Okay fine …" Athrun gave in as the other two girls laughed at the corner.

"Would that really be fine with you 3 guys?" Lacus asked as Cagalli entered the room she chose.

"It's fine. We're not as fussy" Kira answered as Shinn opened the door of the other room. "We'll go over in 30 minutes for a short meeting, after we unpack"

**Koga Village: Mizukage Office**

Mwu entered as Lenore started to speak.

"News about them?"

"Not yet I'm afraid, Mizukage-sama. But you've a special guest"

"A guest?"

"Yes, madam" Mwu replied as the man enters.

"You're …" Lenore said in surprised.

"It's been … hmm … I think less than 20 years?" Andrew stated.

"Yes, I guess so. What brings you here?"

"Heard about the mission you gave my apprentices"

"Your apprentices? You came across them?"

"They came to me to ask for directions to the capital, and I've heard it from Kira"

Lenore laughed slightly. "And here I am wondering if they'll be fine since Shinn said that they don't need a map to find their way there"

"Let's get straight to the point" Andrew started to speak seriously. "Why did you send them there since you know that it'll be dangerous?"

"I believe in their skill that is. After all, I didn't assign them to engage in combat"

"But have you thought about what were to happen to them if they came across Rau? According to Kira, Rau has seen his face, as well as Lacus' face"

"Hmm" Lenore stared at the ground pondering.

"I thought you'll be more careful when you assign an assignment like this" Andrew then smiled slightly. "But it seems like you're still rather careless like in the past"

"So what do you suggest?"

"I'll go … and I shall watch their back"

"That's not advisable; Rau will be able to recognize you at the first glance"

"I don't think so" He smiled more broadly.

**_I've posted earlier than expected, since I just wanted to quickly get the idea on document before it flies out my mind. Exams are now over and the 1 month holiday has begun. Hopefully I can finish up as much of this story as possible during this school vacation. Unfortunately, I can't really estimate how many chapters are left to the end still ... _**

**_Reviews are welcomed, as always! _**


	18. Chapter 18: Unknown Danger

**CHAPTER 18: Unknown Danger**

**Capital Inn: Girls' Room**

"Wow, Stellar likes the view from here" Stellar exclaimed as she draws the curtains.

"It sure is" Lacus agreed as she went over to take a look. "You can really see a rather big part of the city here"

"But not so much" A voice broke them from their thoughts as Shinn opened the room door, with Kira and Athrun behind him. "The city is actually much bigger in fact, according to Mr. Waltfeld"

"ARGH!" A loud scream suddenly scared the guys, and a large force started to push the door close, forcing the guys to leave the room.

"Why did you three need to enter right at this moment?!" Cagalli shouted in rage. "I was changing my clothes!"

"Sorry Cagalli but shouldn't you change with the toilet door closed?" Athrun's voice could be heard over the other side of the door.

"This room is only for girls, so why can't I?" Cagalli replied as she re-entered the toilet to continue changing, leaving the toilet door open.

"Well, if that's the case, you girls should've at least locked the door, but anyways, we'll come in when you open the door to show that you're done"

"It's really irritating, you guys always do things at the wrong time, especially you Athrun" Cagalli said as the other two girls laughed.

"What did I do again?!"

"Never mind that now" Cagalli answered as she combed her hair and opened the door. "Next time, at least knock and wait for a response before coming in"

"You know, opening the door is my fault" Shinn told Cagalli as they entered. "So it has nothing to do with Athrun"

"I knew it was you alright, but don't worry, this is your first mistake. Athrun has made more mistakes than you anyways" Cagalli replied.

"That's because you don't know him as long as Lacus did" Athrun rebutted.

"I guess that's enough now" Kira broke into the conversation. "We're on a mission so we can't afford to be careless already"

"Kira's right … so please break it up"

"Whatever …" Cagalli folded her arms and sat aside.

"Alright, now let's start this meeting proper"

**Capital: Meeting Room**

A group of board members were having a meeting when Rau Le Creusset enters. He took an empty seat near the central table as he listened to the views expressed by the people. After some discussion, the room became quiet for some time before a man, the president, stood up from his seat at the edge of the table and spoke in a loud and clear voice.

"There's also an issue I would like to discuss here, now. Though this issue has not been brought up since many, perhaps a hundred years ago, about the villages of Iga and Koga"

The other board members began whispering among themselves until one of them voiced their views.

"I thought we've severed ties with those villages. The people, or I can say ninjas, there are violent people whom we should not interact with"

"So why are you bringing up this issue again, Azrael? Did something happen?"

Muruta Azrael continued. "Yes, according to Rau, they've found out about what we or I can say, other past board members did, and they're back for revenge"

"Impossible" Another board member voice out. "Even if they're indeed back for revenge, what can their ninjas do? We've got superior weapons"

"Don't underestimate them" Rau Le Creusset spoke at last. "Even with our superior technology, it doesn't mean that they can't win"

"You mean that their weird powers are stronger than ours?!"

"Don't get me wrong, minister" Rau said with a smile. "You've never seen experienced ones before. Those that can kill your men even before those men can fire their weapons"

"But still they're inferior to the government!"

"If you really think that way, then I've no comment" Rau replied.

"If there's nothing else, then let's end the meeting here"

Upon this statement, many board members packed their documents and left the meeting room. Rau Le Creusset made sure that only himself and the president are alone in the room before he started to speak again.

"Mr. Muruta, I've investigated the guests we have here in the capital, as you ordered" Rau reported. "They're the types that I'd strongly advise to avoid conflict with"

"The pawns are strong you mean?" Azrael asked as he randomly moves the pieces on his chess board in front of him. "Even stronger than you?"

"I can't confirm that, but it's not advisable to attack them all at once, those whom I prefer to call them knights and bishops"

"Hmm, if we can't get rid of those that are already here" Azrael pondered and uses his knight to knock away the opponent's castle, placing his knight near the opponent's king. "Perhaps we should go after the king and queen, since they've sent their knights and bishops into the enemy's territory without leaving any protection for themselves" He said smiling. "Then it would be checkmate"

Rau Le Creusset smiled as well. "As you wish"

**Capital****: National Library**

"So what's the plan again?" Stellar asked softly.

"You're forgetful Stellar ... We'll search for as much relevant information as we can here. Though I think that's nothing much that we can find out from here. Athrun and Cagalli will be secretly watching out for the movements of the military, while Kira and Lacus will try to get some information about the government from the civilians that live here ... Hopefully we'll be able to find …"

"Excuse me" He was interrupted by a tall lady wearing glasses and carrying a pile of books on her right hand. "This is a library so please stick to the rules and keep your volume down, or I would have no choice but to make the both of you leave"

"Erm, yes mdm" Shinn answered. He waited for the librarian to move away before speaking softer than before to Stellar. "Hopefully we'll be able to find out something to start our investigations with"

"But then, Stellar finds this library so big. So how are Shinn and Stellar going to find the information Shinn and Stellar need?"

"That's why we better start working" Shinn answered as the both of them moved towards the numerous bookshelves.

**Capital Inn: Girls' Room**

"Seems like the security is kind of tight here" Athrun said as he lowered his binoculars and munched on a sandwich.

"What do you expect?" Cagalli said as she flipped through some documents that she took out from her bag. "The capital has to be unique in their own way"

"By the way, where did you get those notes from?"

"Mr. Waltfeld. He passed them to me just before we left. He said that these might not be much but hoped that they'll come in handy"

"So have you found anything useful there?" Athrun asked as he sat down on the bed nearest to the window, beside her

"Not yet, I've just started looking through"

**Capital Streets**

Kira was looking at the sky while waiting for Lacus, folding his arms as he leans on the wall outside a small tea shop. He was thinking about his childhood days when the pink-haired girl re-appeared in front of him.

"Kira?"

"What is it?"

"Are you sure that … you're okay?"

He merely smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine, so have you found anything?"

"Oh yes. He said that the government isn't doing anything suspicious as far as he know" Lacus held up a plastic bag that she was carrying beside her. "And he's nice enough to let us have these old newspapers to make references to if we like"

"I guess the shopkeeper trusts the lie when we said that we're just doing a small project about the government?"

"Yes, guess we really do look like students in this huge capital, given our current age"

Kira stood up straight. "So shall we move on?"

"Alright then" Lacus replied when someone knocked her accidentally.

"I'm sorry!" That person said. "I didn't see you there when … when …" The person took off his sunglasses under his hat and looks at Kira and Lacus. "Kira? Lacus? Finally I found you both"

"Sensei?! What're you doing here?!" Kira asked in surprise.

"Got worried, what else?"

"Worried? There's nothing to worry about, since we're not ordered to attack the capital here"

"It's not that, I guess that Rau already knew that you guys are here, so I came here to watch over you"

"Rau? How does he know that we're here?" Lacus asked.

"Don't forget that he's a Sannin ... Sannin are capable of doing almost anything"

"Okay then, but that doesn't stop us from investigating about them"

"I like that answer … and here I am wondering how I'm going to search for you guys when I first got here. Where're the others?"

"Shinn and Stellar are in the National Library while Athrun and Cagalli are in the inn" Lacus replied.

"It's not so advisable for them to go there, since it's kind of heavily guarded and … you know, with all the security and stuff. But it's a good place to search for resources"

"So shall we get them out of there?"

"Guess not, it'll look suspicious. All we can do is to pray that they're okay. At the meantime, why don't we grab some dinner? Night is falling already" Andrew changed the subject.

**Iga Village: Mansion of the Sarahs**

"Hokage-sama is really mean, he sent my dear to a dangerous place without allowing me to accompany her. What husband would like his wife to be sent to a far away land without him?!" Yunna complaints.

"Don't worry too much son" Unato answered. "He'll understand your usefulness soon"

"Are you sure about that father? So far, since I've became a Chunin, he didn't give me any missions other than those C or lower ranks! And I only get to do 2 C-rank missions so far!"

(Missions are ranked according to their level of difficulty, where A-rank is the toughest while E-rank is the easiest)

"Like I said, relax son!" Unato said as he sipped his tea. "This sort of thing might take time"

"I've no patience, like you know father!" Yunna shouted as he walked to the door.

"Where're you thinking you're going at this time?"

"I'm going to find my dear"

"Oh no you don't!" Unato quickly placed his cup of tea onto the table and stood up. "I'm not going to let you go against the rules"

"But father! My dear needs me, I can feel it"

"I won't tolerate any breaking of rules under my roof. Besides, Hokage-sama won't send her daughter to her grave, he's not that sort of person. But if you really want to go find her, talk to Hokage-sama for permission first"

"He'll sure say no, father"

"Then there you have it. You're to stay!"

"Like I said, my dear needs me, and I won't let her die" Yunna ran out of the house with his father shouting behind him. "_I'm sorry father … I'll accept any punishment when I return, with Lacus dear by my side_"

He was running as quietly as he could out of the village and into the forest when he felt something different. He stopped on a thick tree branch and looked around.

"_Strangely, the air around seemed kind of different_"

He then heard a sound coming from behind but as he turned around, he accidentally stepped on a small tree branch which turned out to be a trap and got caught in a net. A group of masked men in black approached him with guns and 3 of them tied up his hands and legs as well as taping his mouth before releasing him from the net. Yunna was sweating as the men surrounded him, pointing their guns at him, with him not knowing what guns are as he lived in Iga all his life without coming in contact with men from the capital. Later, a man in green and blue shinobi clothes walked out of the shadows. The men in black stood aside for him to walk towards Yunna slowly.

"Well, well, I thought we got something like a ferret for dinner but seemed like we got an Iga shinobi instead"

"_This man_" Yunna thought. "_From the way he dresses … he's a shinobi … but he doesn't seem to be one of us … Could he be …"_

"Remove that tape" The shinobi ordered. "But if he makes any loud movements, kill him"

The men in black all went nearer to Yunna with the tips of their guns, some almost touching his neck while others almost touching his head, as one of them moved forward to remove the tape on his mouth.

"Who … who are you guys?!" Yunna spoke immediately.

"Can't you tell who we're from our weapons?" The shinobi asked. "Or you've never left Iga before in your life?"

"The … the … the … capital … …" Yunna trembled. "You're a traitor shinobi! What do you guys want here?"

"Take your time, and watch … as we burn every house to the ground" Rau smiled as he revealed his face in the moonlight. Yunna's face was in a shock as his mouth got taped once again and the men dragged him away.

**_Finally got the next one up ... guess it took quite long huh? Main reason, simply, I'm too lazy ... _**

**_Well, like what Azrael said, war is going to break out between the capital and both villages without the 7 of them in the capital knowing ... story is kind of ending in my opinion ... though there're still quite a number of chapters to go ..._**

**_Comments are, of course, welcomed!_**


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